Warrior Children
by cousin D
Summary: FINISHED! YST Ronin Warriors Crossover with Gundam Wing.  Yaoi. The boys all meet before the wars and how this changes history. For better or worse, everything is different.  AU. Currently being revised.
1. Touma's Brother

The characters are not mine.

Yoroiden Samurai Troopers crossover with Gundam Wing. Hope you enjoy and please review.

I like the Japanese names for my Samurai Troopers, don't you? Here are the translations, since someone told me they didn't know whom I was talking about.

Ryo- Sanada Ryou

Sage- Date Seiji

Rowen- Hashiba Touma

Cye- Mouri Shin

Kento- Xiulei (Xiu) Faun

Anubis- Sh'ten

Dais- Rajura

Sekhmet- Naaza

Cale- Anubis (See the confusion with this name in particular?)

Taulpa- Arago

The ancient- Kaosu

Mia Koji- Yagiyu Nasutei (Naste)

White Blaze- Byakuen (Yaku-Chan)

Black Blaze- Kokuen-Ko (Ko-Chan)

Warrior Children Chapter One: Touma's brother

Touma-

Don't cry. Don't ever cry.

He should be used to it, by now. The pawing and leers, they weren't anything new. How long had it been like this? Almost a fully year? Something like that. He lost track of time so easily. A whole year of living on the streets, of hiding and running and making himself as inconspicuous as possible.

Pain.

Everything hurt. Touma tried to lay as still as possible, but it wasn't easy and it really didn't help all that much. His attackers, a man and a woman circled him, leering. The woman's small hand touched his cheek, wet with tears and Touma shivered, jerking away from the touch. He didn't even know who they were. He didn't much care, either. The smell of garbage and waste was overpowering and it made Touma feel all the more ill. He was cold and a light rain felt like it was beating down on him. A m miserable night. He wondered, distantly, if he was going to die in that filthy alley. He didn't want to, but it would save him a lot of trouble. If he died, then he wouldn't be hungry anymore. He wouldn't have to go through anything like this again.

"Sweet thing, you shouldn't cry. It spoils your pretty looks." The woman laughed, turning her fingers to run her nail down his cheek, nearly drawing blood.

'Not crying.' Touma thought, defiantly. 'It's rain. I'm not crying.'

"I disagree, my love." A man said, putting a hand on Touma's hair. "I rather think tears suit our little bluebird."

Touma closed his eyes and prayed for it all to be over. Not for the first time in the past year, he wished he hadn't run away from home. At least he'd had his pride in tact. Even his dad's beatings would have been better than this. Back home he'd have been warm and there was usually food in the house. He could have been in his bedroom fast asleep.

Well, this wasn't the first time this had happened and there was no point in thinking about what might have been. He'd been on the streets for a long while and had learned much. Many things a twelve-year-old should not know. Touma just wanted to die, right now. Just...anything to get it all over with.

The two adults spoke some more before leaving Touma in the alley, broken and bleeding. Touma wasn't glad to be alone, nor was he sad. He couldn't seem to feel anything at the moment other than overpowering shame and a desire to fade into nothingness. Death wasn't something to be afraid of, Touma was sure. Death was a release from the world.

'Death has to be better than this. Wish I was brave enough to do it. What a coward.' No matter how life treated him, Touma just couldn't seem to work up the courage to kill himself. There were many times that he'd wanted to. He certainly had nothing to live for. What future could he possibly have?

Curled up and alone where he'd been left, Touma had a very certain feeling that, left to live, he would never even make an impact on the world. For good or evil, Touma believed that he would live and die hiding in back alleys like this. He would breath in the stench of other people's garbage and hunt through it for food. Why should he live? If no one would even know he existed, what was the point in life?

'Stop it.' Touma told himself. 'Philosophy won't get me anywhere. Stand up.'

The night was cold against his bare skin and Touma huddled into a fetal position for protection. His mind had almost shattered, but slowly it was coming back together. They'd caught him alone. Stupid, really. He should have stayed at the shelter tonight. It was freezing cold and the snow had even started falling again. He had been told that he should stay in the shelters, especially at night, but he'd forgotten. The stars had been so bright that night and he just wanted to stay on the rooftop, gazing at the stars.

The stars were so far away, so perfect. They were clean and the only thing pure Touma could rely on. The stars were always there, no matter how life was.

They caught him when he came down, seizing him roughly by the back of his throat... Touma's mind blanked, not wanting to relive the nightmare. Bad enough to live through it once, why would he want to even think about?

'Have to get up. Stay here and I will die.' He didn't want to die. Yes, death would be easier, but…he just didn't want to die. If he let himself die, then he'd never get to see the stars again. 'Get up! Move!' Touma lay on the bitterly cold pavement, not daring to move for fear that they'd be back. He may have lay there for an hour, before he dared to open his eyes and look around. No one. Was it safe?

"Rashid? Who's that?" A soft voice said from the end of the alley.

Touma froze, looking up with pure horror. Someone else had found him! There was no where to hide or run and he didn't even have his clothes to protect him anymore. Touma started shaking as he looked at the two figures at the end of the alley walked in to get a better look at him. Touma pulled himself to his hands and knees, determined to fight, even if he was going to lose.

A boy his own age with blonde hair was standing next to the biggest man Touma had ever seen. The boy was richly dressed in fancy, bright colored clothes and even wore some jewelry, bangles on his wrist and a gold necklace. He was small, but looked much fitter than Touma. His face was soft and his eyes innocent like a child half his age. It wasn't the boy that worried Touma, though, but the man at the boy's side. Touma almost fainted at the sight of the huge, dark skinned man who stood next to the boy. The man was bigger than a football player and taller than a basketball player. His skin was darken and his beard and mustache were neatly trimmed into sharp angles. Most frightening of all were the man's hard eyes.

The boy stepped into the alley with the man called Rashid following no more than a step behind.

Touma, still naked, put his bundle of torn clothes over himself to protect what remained of his dignity, but not taking his eyes off the boy or the huge man as he struggled to his feet. He couldn't deal with any more trouble tonight. He just wanted to find someplace quiet where he could lay down and sleep for a couple of days. No, scratch that. He wanted a bath to wash the filth off.

"Are you all right?" Rashid asked in a deep, compassionate voice. His eyes showed worry, but Touma wasn't about to trust that. There was no telling what this guy might do. He was way too big to fight, just one of his legs was bigger than Touma.

Touma started to back away remembering what the woman had said several hours ago,

'Are you all right, little boy? You look lost.' She had touched his head, running his fingers through his blue hair. Touma hadn't liked the touch and he squirmed to get away from her. The man held Touma by the throat and one arm around his chest, almost strangling him and pinning Touma's back to his chest. Touma had been so afraid that he couldn't even fight and his heart hurt, slamming against his chest.

The blonde boy smiled at Touma. "Don't be afraid. We won't hurt you. What's your name?"

'What's your name, little boy?' The man had asked, leering. He'd moved to stand in front of Touma and puta hand on Touma's thin chest. Touma was now shaking, backed as far away from the boy and the huge man as he could get.

His mind screamed at him, 'run!' and Touma obeyed, flying at the only escape available. The street behind Rashid was the only place to run so Touma darted to safety. Unfortunately, though he did manage to get passed the blonde boy, Rashid was a different matter. The man easily caught him by the arm and hauled him off his feet.

Touma screamed, just as he had when the other people had torn off his clothes, fighting for his life. Rashid held him securely; not hard enough to hurt him, but hard enough that Touma didn't want to test the man's strength. He was caught. This man could kill him without trying.

"Let me go!" Touma demanded, kicking as hard as he could at the frowning man.

"I won't hurt you, child." Touma couldn't make much sense of anything the man was saying; he just wanted to run. Just run and get somewhere that no one could touch him!

"Calm down, please." The blonde boy said, almost begging. His eyes were wide and his hands clasped at his chest. "We're not going to hurt you, we just want to help."

"Put me down! I don't need you!" Touma refused to stop fighting even though it looked hopeless.

The giant of a man looked at the blonde boy who sighed unhappily. "Do as he says, Rashid. We can't keep him here if he wants to go home."

Rashid did as he was told without question, but as Touma ran to the street, two figures blocked his way. Touma skidded to a stop, falling down in his haste to keep away. The two were all to familiar as they smiled down at him and Touma scrambled to get back into the alley when he remembered Rashid and the boy were still there. He froze, caught between the two sets of people with nowhere to run.

"We came back to see you again, bluebird." The woman purred, smiling like a shark. "We missed you all ready and thought that perhaps we shouldn't have left you out here all alone in the night. Someone might hurt you, you know." Her eyes went to Rashid. "I didn't think you'd have found another friend so quickly, bluebird." Her eyes ran up and down Rashid whose eyes narrowed. "Would you care to share? This bluebird is our little one, but we'll share him if you'll share the pretty blonde." She looked at the blonde boy.

Rashid's eye twitched, ominously. "Quatre," He said in a deep rumbling voice. "Close your eyes."

The boy, Quatre, did as he was told without question.

The woman laughed, an obscenely sweet sound. "Your little one is so well trained. Bluebird isn't so well behaved, I'm afraid. Perhaps with your company, he may learn a bit."

Rashid didn't seem to listen and instead went directly to the man and woman, standing in front of them for just a moment before he grabbed both of them by their head and smashed their skulls together. It was like smashing two raw eggs together and watching all the goo explode. Touma retched at the sight of their brains leaking and their lifeless bodies slumped to the ground, but luckily there was no food in his stomach to come up.

Rashid looked down at Touma, still frozen, but now with confusion as well as fear. What was going on? Would Rashid kill him, too, instead of raping him? 'Please,' Touma thought. 'Please, just kill me.'

"Did they touch you?" Rashid asked, making his voice softer.

Touma nodded slowly. He really didn't want to get this man angry. A man so powerful that he could kill so easily.

"Quatre, we will have a guest for dinner tonight." Rashid told the boy whose eyes were still closed. It seemed that he wouldn't open them until Rashid told him to. "What is your name, boy?" Rashid looked back at Touma, his eyes becoming gentler.

Touma considered for a moment before answering. "Hashiba Touma."

Rashid picked up Quatre easily and carried him over the mess he'd made to the street beyond and he looked at Touma. "Would you like some help?"

Touma shook his head, not wanting anyone to touch him, not even if it meant he had to walk through the brains all over the ground. Touma stepped carefully, hoping he wouldn't fall. Once he'd reached the street, Touma remembered he was still naked, but before he could feel embarrassed, a weight landed on his shoulders as Rashid had taken off his coat and draped it over Touma's shoulders.

"That will keep you warm. You are welcome in our home, Touma. To fill your belly and warm your bones as well as to get some medical treatment."

It was exactly what Touma needed, but he was afraid to accept. Nothing was free. He wanted to run, but where would he go? Where else could he get such a good offer? "Thanks." He was so cold and tired of being alone. Maybe these people would at least give him some food.

They brought Touma to a large house on the edge of the city, still wearing Rashid's coat. Rashid led the way to a black car that looked old, but was obviously well taken care of. He held the door open for Quatre and waited patiently for Touma to get in, also. They rode the whole way with Quatre chatting to Rashid, who drove, and Touma sitting as quietly as he could. To get into the house, they had to pass through a guarded gate and then It made Touma look like he was almost swimming in it. There were servants, men in black and white suits and women in maid outfits, in the house when they walked in. Rashid and Quatre paid the servants no attention, though everyone seemed to be staring at Touma. They were all quiet as Touma looked around the entrance hall of the house.

The floors were made of solid marble and there were silk curtains on the windows. The house was shiningly clean and there were several servants wandering around, casting him curious looks but not saying anything directly to him, just polite nods and smiles. It seemed eerily quiet and Touma could hear his own footsteps

Touma felt out of place and that only made him more nervous. A maid stepped forward and took Quatre's coat, then Rashid's. When she moved to take Touma's, Rashid made a quick slashing movement with one hand and she backed away without a word. Rashid was obviously the one in charge of the house.

One man, a bit younger than Rashid, perhaps, came to the large man and gave him a familiar embrace before kissing Rashid's cheek. "Welcome, home, Rashid. Master Quatre." The man bowed to Quatre. He wasn't dressed in the black and white of the other servants, but in some kind of garb from the middle-east. The sunglasses on his face looked a bit out of place considering that it was night and they were inside.

"Hi, Abdul!" Quatre cried as he hugged the man warmly. It was quite obvious that Quatre loved Abdul and Rashid both very much and trusted them. Then Quatre looked at Touma. "Abdul, this is Touma. He's gonna stay with us for a little while, okay?"

Abdul smiled at Touma; looking him up and down and Touma scowled, starting to back away. He was all too aware that he was naked under Rashid's coat and hugged it closer to his body for protection. He didn't like people looking at him. He really didn't like it. Touma started to back himself into a corner near a door. He didn't know that there were going to be other people here. The servants alone were bad enough, but this one wasn't a servant. He was friendly with Rashid and that made him dangerous.

Quatre apparently noticed Touma's reaction and walked away from Abdul. "Don't be afraid. Abdul's really nice." He reached out, but Touma jerked away before Quatre could touch him, glaring at the blonde furiously. He couldn't afford to be afraid, fear was weakness, so he would be angry instead.

Quatre looked hurt. "You don't think I'll hurt you, do you?"

Touma snorted. "You might. How should I know?" Until he was sure, Touma wasn't going to let any of them get close. This was a bad idea, a very bad mistake, coming here with them. What had he been thinking?

Rashid put hand on Quatre's shoulder. "Give him some time, Master Quatre. He's been through a very hard time. Is dinner ready?" He looked at Abdul.

Abdul nodded but before they went in to eat, Quatre started up the large winding stairway. "Come with me, Touma. You can use some of my clothes and we'll wash for dinner."

Touma started to shake his head and held Rashid's coat a little tighter around him. "I don't need your clothes."

"If you want to eat, you will wash and dress." Rashid informed him sternly before walking into another room with Abdul and closing the door behind them. Touma knew, in all likelihood, that they were talking about him.

This left Touma standing in the silent hall with Quatre looking at him expectantly. Touma squelched the fear and shrugged as if it didn't matter. "All right. Where is this room of yours?" Quatre's room was enormous. The bed alone was bigger than Touma's room at the old man's apartment. "I just don't believe this place." Touma muttered looking around in awe.

"What do you mean?" Quatre asked from inside his huge closet as he searched for clothes for Touma. The closet was a whole room unto itself and Quatre was wandering around inside, looking for just the right things, determined to share what he had.

"This whole place. It's huge, like a museum. Does Rashid own all of it?" Touma thought that Rashid must be big into some kind of business, legal or otherwise, to have such wealth. Finally, Quatre came out of the closet with an armful of clothes including underwear and shining leather shoes.

"Don't be silly." Quatre answered with a little laugh. "I own all this. Rashid works for my father and takes care of me while I'm on Earth. My father lives on colonies L4." Quatre lay the clothes on the bed for Touma, smiling happily. "It won't fit quite right, I'm afraid. You're taller than me and thinner. It should be all right for tonight, though. Tomorrow, I'll have the tailor make something new for you." Quatre smiled happily though this all, as he lay out the clothes.

Touma started at what Quatre had said and went cold. "I'm staying here?"

"Well, yes. If you want to."

Touma shook his head quickly. "I...I don't think I should. I just came for that hot meal your big friend said I could have."

Quatre looked disappointed, but accepted this. Quatre insisted that Touma shower before changing into the new clothes, telling Touma that he could use Quarte's own bathroom and that there was a lock on the inside of the door if he felt he had to use it. "Don't take a shower, though." Quatre warned. "Rashid said the doctor will be up soon to see you." He blushed a little. "You know, just to make sure there's no…damage. In fact, you might as well wait. I'm sure Abdul's already called the doctor." Innocent as he may look, Quatre did understand what Touma had gone though.

The exam was through, but professional. The coldly clinical doctor pronounced Touma in relative good health, though he advised Rashid to have him visit a psychologist or a therapist some time soon. He bandaged what he could and took blood samples for tests, promising to let Rashid know the results as soon as possible. When the old man had gone, Quatre smiled at Touma. "He's a friend of Rashid's, so you don't have to worry. He'll be discreet about everything. Did you want a shower, now?"

Touma had to admit that the shower with almost limitless hot water felt terribly good. He had never had such a wonderful experience, just letting the steaming water run down his back and finally clean all the grime off him. Even after he got out of the shower, the bathroom was wonderfully steamy. Quatre had been right about the clothes. They were to baggy and to short in the arms and legs. He looked really absurd, but at least they were clean and the shoes fit. He'd never worn leather shoes. Even the sneakers he'd had were always second hand.

When Touma came out of the bathroom, Quatre was still waiting for him and looked at him critically. "Well, it's better, I suppose." Quatre motioned at Touma's long bangs falling in his eyes. "I don't suppose you'd let me cut your hair, would you?" He seemed to disapprove of how long and shaggy it was. "I'll call a hair dresser, if you'd prefer. It'll look nicer."

Let someone near him with scissors? No way! Touma shook his head, even though the hair in his eyes was irritating. Quatre thought for a moment, before bringing out of his closet a long, blue silk ribbon and giving it to Touma. "It belonged to one of my sisters and she forgot it the last time she visited. Just tie it around your forehead to keep the hair out of your eyes."

The idea worked wonderfully and Touma almost smiled at being able to see properly. At least one good thing came out of this meeting.

The next morning-

Touma woke up in the morning and wasn't sure where he was until he remembered Quatre giving him a pair of pajamas and showing him to the spare room. "You can sleep here tonight." Quatre had told him after the incredible meal they'd served for dinner. "If you need anything, just come and find me. My room's right down the hall."

Left alone in the large room, Touma put himself to bed. He felt better than he'd felt in a long time. He was clean, dressed in clean clothes, and so full of wonderful food that his stomach felt like it was going to burst. This was just too good to be true. Although he still didn't trust these people, Touma had to say that Rashid had been very kind and Abdul was nice. They'd let Touma eat at the big dinner table and the servants waited on him just like they did the other three, setting plates of food down in front of him and asking him if he wanted anything when he'd cleaned off his plate.

All the food and comfort soon had Touma feeling drowsy at the dinner table, even though he was afraid what would happen if he fell asleep with these people around him. Rashid noticed Touma's condition and suggested that Quatre show him to one of the guest rooms so he could get some sleep. Touma had locked the door as soon as Quatre had left, afraid that someone would come in while he was sleeping. That night, the only invaders had been nightmares and no lock could stop their fearsome visit.

Now, in the morning sunlight, Touma was laying in bed, wondering if he should get up. There would be a price for the warm bed and the food, he knew. Nothing was free and Rashid, or maybe Abdul, would demand a price for the shelter and the large meal he'd been given last night. Touma's stomach twisted inside with fear, now that he was wide and the shock of yesterday's rape had worn off. The nightmares had revisited that on him last night, time and time again so Touma hadn't really gotten any rest.

He knew what the price would likely be, but if he could talk to Quatre, maybe he would know what to be ready for. Quatre didn't seem afraid of these guys in the least, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe they would be gentle. It couldn't be worse than living at home with the old man or starving on the streets, could it? 'I could just stay here, if they want me.' Would that really so awful? Yes. It would be unspeakably horrible. The pain alone would probably kill them. 'But if I'm going to get raped on the streets, maybe it would be better to stay here. At least they feed me here. I'll have a warm bed and Quatre said I can have new clothes. I don't want to be hungry anymore. But it hurts and I was so scared.' Touma bit at his bottom lip until he could taste blood. 'Giving up is bad, isn't it? Should I fight? I hate fighting.' Touma could envision the rest of his life spent running away from people like the man and woman who'd hurt him and being hungry all the time. He thought about the coming winter and the bitter cold. Would he even be able to survive it? Quatre's house was warm and the food was good.

After hopping out of bed, Touma checked the windows, which turned out to be locked. There was no other way out of the room than the door leading into the hallway. Touma opened the bedroom door and stepped out into the empty hall. Maybe he should sneak out before anyone noticed he was up.

"Hi!"

Touma jumped at the cheerful voice and turned to see Quatre coming out of the bathroom, his hair still wet from, supposedly, a shower. He just looked too good to be true. He looked like one of those paintings of angels one always saw in churches. Quatre said that he owned the house? Rashid and Abdul worked for him? Quatre might be in on the whole thing, too. Touma shook his head to clear his mind. This was too hard! He just couldn't trust anyone!

Quatre went right over to Touma, either not noticing or not caring about the suspicious look Touma was giving him or about the fact that he was apparently wearing nothing but a bathrobe. "Did you sleep well last night?"

"Yeah. Fine." Touma backed away slightly, as he wasn't inclined to tell Quatre about the nightmares.

"You should get washed up and come downstairs. Breakfast will be ready, soon." Quatre turned and started to walk away, but Touma stopped him.

"Can you tell me what your friends want with me?" Touma asked nervously. He wasn't sure if he wanted to hear the answer, but it was always better to go in knowing what to expect rather than be taken by surprise.

Quatre only looked at him blankly. "What do you mean?"

"Well, what are they going to expect me to...do. You know." Touma knew he was blushing and wished that he could stop it, but this was not the sort of thing he was used to talking about. If he was a prisoner here, he wanted to know what was going on!

"Do? I'm not sure what you're talking about, but I'm sure Rashid will. Rashid knows everything! He's downstairs with Abdul, probably in the kitchen. Why don't you go ask him?" Quatre walked away and into his own bedroom, blissfully ignorant of Touma's fear. Ask Rashid? Well, he had to go down some time.

After he'd rummaged through a closet and found some clothes that fit well enough, Touma tried to do as Quatre had said, but finding his way downstairs was more difficult than he'd imagined. The whole house was like a maze, and he had to ask several servants where he could find Rashid. Ten minutes later, Touma found himself outside the kitchen where, he was told, the two adults preferred to eat.

'This is going to be okay.' Touma told himself, licking his suddenly dry lips. 'If they do anything creepy and I don't like it, I can run for it. I can change my mind if they hurt me. I saw a forest outside through the windows, so I can hide there for a while. Those two huge guys, there's no way they'd make it through all the trees as fast as me. I can change my mind.'

"I don't think it's right."

Touma paused when he heard Abdul's voice through the kitchen door.

"We don't have a choice." Rashid answered, sounding sad, yet certain.

Touma pressed his ear to the door to hear better.

"He's going to have to go back to his home." Rashid decided. "We can't keep the boy, he's likely got family who are looking for him."

"Oh, come on." Abdul tried to argue. "There must have been a reason for him to be on the streets. Maybe he's an orphan and he doesn't have a home. Maybe his home was just no good. Have you asked him?"

Rashid shook his head. "The boy belongs with his family. I looked on the computers last night and found the name Hashiba, a single father who has a son named Touma. It must be the same. We'll go find him and return Touma."

"But I like the boy!"

"It wouldn't be right."

"Quatre likes him, too. I went to say good night last night and Quatre wouldn't talk about anything except Touma. He's so excited to have a friend."

Rashid answered harshly. "Don't try to change my mind! The boy has to go back to his home and that's that!"

Touma's eyes went wide at the thought. Just last night he'd been thinking that maybe he shouldn't have run away, but now, thinking clearly, Touma changed his mind. Anything was better than staying with the old man. Life of the streets was bad, being here with these strangers was unnerving, but going back to the old man? Never! Touma took off running, finding the front door open, and headed for the forest. Touma was breathing hard as he ran through the forest, desperate to get away. He would not go back to the old man! The old man would kill him after all this time gone. Touma just couldn't stand anymore.

He ran.

Touma ran out of the house and into the forest he'd seen just moments ago. It wasn't hard. The fence surrounding the property had bars just wide enough for Touma to slip through and escape. He was feeling his freedom when he was well into the forest and no one had followed him. He'd seen not a single guard or servant, he hadn't even heard a call of alarm when he'd run out of the house. Perhaps, he wasn't important enough to run after.

His luck ran out when Touma heard a rustling from the trees above him and stopped running to look up into the canopy. Quatre jumped out of the treetops and landed in front of Touma, looking angry. "You're running away?" He'd landed with grace Touma hadn't expected from the small boy. He made it look as if he'd done this sort of thing a before

"Yes." Touma answered warily. He wouldn't let Quatre take him back to Rashid. Rashid had said he was taking Touma back home. Home? As if that apartment could be called home!

"You can't just run away! What are you going to do when you can't find any food out here!"

Touma put his fists up, ready to fight if Quatre forced it. "I won't go back! I heard your friends talking and I won't go back there! I'll die before I let them take me back!" He didn't want to hurt Quarte. No matter how suspicious Quarte was, he hadn't done anything to hurt Touma. "Get out of my way." "Don't be stupid. Rashid wouldn't do anything to hurt you and neither would Abdul or I. What's so horrible about going back to your father?"

Touma began to slip into a crouch, his eyes narrowing as he readied himself for a fight. "The old man will kill me if I go back. I'd rather spend the rest of my life on the streets than go back." His heart was beating faster and Touma could hear his blood rushing through his ears. He was cold all of sudden, sweat running down his back.

Quatre's eyes opened a little wider. "Kill you? Why?"

Touma almost laughed. "Why? Because he's a drunk old bastard, why do you think? He hates me."

"Rashid won't let you get hurt. If you're afraid, ask Rashid to go with you."

Touma attacked, flying at Quatre with his fists swinging, and didn't bother to answer. If the old man were sober when Touma got there with Rashid, the old man would act all fatherly only to turn back to normal when Rashid had gone. It wasn't worth the risk.

Quatre was surprised, caught off guard, and Touma fell, knocking both of them down. Touma straddled Quatre and raised his fists. It all happened so quickly that Touma didn't even had time to think about what he was going bfore he started battering Quatre's face as hard as he could.

Quatre took the swings, letting Touma hit him black and blue. He didn't offer up even the slightest resistance and just lay there, taking the blows. His patience paid off as Touma's strength started to run out. Touma's attach slowed, his arms moving more and more slowly until he could barely lift them. Touma felt Quatre put arms around him. Even as Touma was weakly struggled against the embrace, Quatre held him tight and whispered. "Poor Touma. Don't be afraid. I'll be with you."

Touma stopped and stared, heaving from the effort. His eyes started to burn. 'Don't cry. Crying's weak. Don't cry.'

Quatre's bloody, swelling face looked right in Touma's as he sat up and the two boys faced each other. Quatre smiled reassuringly. "Don't be afraid. I won't let you get hurt."

That was too much for Touma, he was too confused by Quatre's generous, unexpected offer. Touma let Quatre hold him and leaned his head down onto Quatre's shoulder. "Oh, God." Touma whispered. "Oh, God, what am I going to do?"

"You'll survive." Quatre told him quietly, rubbing his back. "After you survive, you'll live to see another morning." They waited until Touma had run out of tears, just taking comfort in Quatre holding him. "Will you come back now?" Quatre asked. "I'll tell Rashid that you're afraid of your father and I know he'll think of something. He'll know what to do."

"Did you mean what you said? Will you stay with me?"

"Of course I did. You can be my brother, if you like. I have a house full of sisters, but no brothers."

Quatre's brother? Would that be so bad? Touma let Quatre help him off the ground and together they walked back to the house. Touma was still afraid, though. Now he had to face Rashid and Abdul after hurting Quatre and there was still the threat of what they really wanted from him. He just couldn't believe they were doing all this out of the goodness of their hearts.

Rashid and Abdul had been upset about Quatre's face, but only scowled at Touma, irritated. Touma had been afraid that he'd get a beating, but that didn't seem to even cross their minds. Quatre was washed up and they all sat down to breakfast with not another word about the incident.

"Rashid," Quatre said when the four of them were seated around the small kitchen table. "Touma doesn't want to go home. He says his father beats him."

Rashid-  
Later that day-

Quatre's warnings were never ignored. Though he didn't know how Quatre knew some of the things he knew, Rashid had faith in Quatre's instincts. If he thought Touma was in danger or that Touma was afraid, Rashid had to believe him. The boy had always had a talent for seeing into other people. It was such a strong talent that if Quatre ever decided to take a hand in his father's business or, Allah forbid, he take an interest in politics, then Rashid feared there would be no stopping him.

Touma led them to an apartment near the middle of the city, not one of the nicer places to live. Rashid looked around the apartment quietly with the three behind him. Touma, as usual, had been very quiet, as they'd driven here, speaking only to give the driver directions. Quatre kept trying to talk to him in the back of the car, but Touma barely made any response. Rashid was beginning to understand why as he examined Touma's home.

The place smelled. Not just a bad smell, but as if it hadn't been cleaned in months. Rancid, that was the only word for it. The smell of rotted food and a backed up toilet was almost enough to almost knock Rashid over. As it was, Quatre had quickly covered his nose and mouth with his hand, unable to bear it. Abdul wrinkled his nose in disgust, but Touma didn't seem to notice and walked glumly into the apartment.

"Maybe you should leave now." Touma suggested in a dead sounding voice. "If the old man comes back and finds you here, he's likely not to be to happy. If he comes back." Touma sounded very pathetic as he walked away from them and went to the couch. Before sitting down, Touma checked all the cushions carefully and pulled out two used syringes from where they'd apparently been dropped and carelessly tossed them on the coffee table, as if he did it everyday. "Hasn't changed a bit."

Rashid, not liking the way this was going, shook his head slowly. "I think we'll stay just a bit longer. I want to make sure you are not left here alone, after all." 'As if I'm going to leave the child alone in a place like this!'

"I wouldn't if I were you." Touma said, very seriously. "He's gonna do something bad if you stay. If he's sober, he'll try to get money off you. He'll say you kidnapped me or something and he'll try to take you to court, if he can. If I'm lucky, he'll be drunk when he gets here."

While Touma was saying all that, Abdul had been exploring the apartment with no small amount of trepidation. He'd given Quatre quiet, but strict instructions to stay near the door, probably the safest place for him, and cautiously stepped over and around the lumps of garbage and soiled clothes.

"Um, Rashid? I think you'd better come see this." Abdul said. He had started to explore the disgusting apartment, peeking into corners, and had ended up in the bathroom.

Rashid left the two boys and looked in where his friend was. A man with shaggy hair and two days worth of stubble was laying, passed out, on the floor in a puddle of vomit, his hair half soaked in it with several empty bottles of some kind around his feet.

Touma stuck his head in before Rashid could stop him and sneered with disgust. "Damned old man. Drunk again. I hope he drowns in his own throw up!" Touma left without another word to go back to the couch.

"Does he do that often?" Abdul asked horrified. He left the bathroom in disgust and put a hand on Touma's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him, though Touma flinched away from the touch. Abdul didn't try to touch him again.

"Every time the unemployment check comes in. Don't worry about him, I don't think even the devil wants someone like that, so he'll probably live forever." Touma sounded disgusted.

Rashid, meanwhile, was making a decision. This was obviously not a safe place for Touma to live. Touma would be much safer and happier living with them. The decision was rather easy. "Abdul, take the boys out for lunch, will you?"

Everyone looked at him, curiously, but Rashid didn't bother to explain himself and Abdul knew when something was important. "You heard him, boys. Where do you want to go? Italian would be nice and I think I saw a place just down the street."

"What's going on?" Touma asked, suspiciously. He looked from Abdul to Rashid. "What are you going to do?"

Rashid gave Touma a very serious look. "Do you want to stay here?"

"I ran away, didn't I?"

"Don't be so surly. If you want to stay away, then we'll have to do this legally. We don't want problems later."

A tiny, very small spark of hope flashed in Touma's eyes before it died away. He'd been living without hope for so long, the boy probably didn't even want to think about it anymore. How many times had he been disappointed by that man in the bathroom? What had he done to Touma that would make the boy fear him so much? If Touma didn't want to tell, it was probably best not to ask. "It won't work. Whatever you're thinking, it won't work."

"Have faith."

"No." Touma met Rashid's eyes flatly.

Quatre took Touma's arm and Touma didn't shake him off. "Rashid knows what he's doing. He's very good. You can trust him." Quatre and Abdul led Touma away, though Abdul paused at the doorway and threw Abdul a cool look.

"Don't kill him." He gestured around the apartment. "I really don't think Touma needs to deal with that on top of everything else that's going on in his life."

"I won't."

Several minutes later, Touma's terrified father was trying very hard to concentrate while Rashid held a short dagger to the man's throat. Rashid was, normally, the most peaceful of men and his patience was legendary. When someone managed to upset him, it was spectacular. In this case, being so irresponsible as to endanger a child was enough to make Rashid angry. "Do you understand?"

Touma's father nodded quickly. "Yes. Yes. Completely. City courthouse, nine o'clock tomorrow." Touma's father had been, luckily, easy to wake up enough to understand what Rashid wanted. He'd woken Touma's father out of his drink-induced slumber with several rather hard slaps across the face. The man wasn't completely sober, but it was good enough for the moment.

"And you won't forget, will you?" Rashid pressed the dagger just a little bit closer.

"No! I swear! He's all yours! Whatever you want!"

"Good." Rashid sheathed his dagger with an almost pleased smile. "I'll see you, then. We both agree that your life just can't handle having a child, correct? Because if you decide to change your mind, mention my little persuasion method," He patted the knife under his coat. "Or just decide not to turn up, please remember that I know where you live. I also know that you neglected your own son to such a degree that he's been wandering the streets for quite some time. I believe I can have you in jail for that." Actually, this might all be easier if Rashid just have the man discreetly killed, but Abdul would find out and that sort of thing always upset him. Besides, the last thing Touma needed to worry about was a mess of legal action. Better to get this all done properly.

There was no question of the outcome, after all. Touma would speak against his father. Rashid, an upstanding and well known citizen, would ask for Touma. If necessary, bribes could be paid, then Touma would go home with Rashid and Abdul and that would be the end of the matter. Rashid had always wanted a son and now Quatre could have the brother he wanted.

Years later-  
Quatre-

It was several years after Touma had been legally adopted by Rashid and Abdul when Quatre came back to visit. He would have liked to live with them all the time, but there were other obligations he had to take care of. Family duties and his studies were of utmost importance. Above even those, was his new duty. The training for the swiftly coming war.

Still, whenever he had a free moment, Quatre would find some excuse to go to Earth and visit with his family. His other family. This time, he had more of an excuse. His father had agreed to let him live with Rashid and Abdul for the next four years, until he graduated high school.

It was on his first night home that Quatre had first learned that Touma was still having nightmares. Of course he knew that Touma had many nightmares about the rape, but the therapist Abdul had hired was supposed to have taken care of that. He and Touma had become as close as brothers in the past few years, through both Touma's therapy and the both of them being trained by Rashid as soldiers. Rashid didn't want them to actually fight, but he wanted them to know how to fight.

Touma had fallen into life with Rashid and Abdul nicely, finding in them the father figures he'd always needed. He developed a love of books from Rashid's great library and, all in all, turned out rather well.

Then came the nightmare.

Touma-  
Nightmare-

Touma was running and he kept yelling at himself to run faster. 'Run as fast as you can!' He took a quick look over his shoulder but the thing was still following him! It was strong and looking at it made Touma feel very weak. It was metal, he could hear it clanking as it ran behind him. There was a metal bow in it's hands and Touma thought of the anime he watched with the giant robots. It was too much like one of those things. It couldn't be real. Touma turned back around and ran harder, but his chest hurt and the thing was getting closer. He couldn't get away from it. 'Weak! I hate being weak! It's going to catch me!' Touma screamed at himself and he was starting to slow down. He was so tired of running and the bow-wielding thing was right on his heels now. 'Keep running! Keep running! I have to get away from it. If it catches me, it'll never let me go! Someone help me. Please, someone help!'

End Nightmare-

Touma woke with a scream and found Quatre looking down at him. The light was on and there was no robot with a bow. For a moment, Touma just lay there in his bed and waited for his heart to slow. He was home. Safe.

"Touma? What's wrong?" Quatre looked at Touma closely, worried. "Why did you scream, Touma? Was it the nightmare again?"

Touma noticed that he was shaking and pulled his knees up to his chest. "Yeah. Just...just a nightmare."

There was a weight on the side of his bed and Touma knew that Quatre was sitting there with him. He didn't want to look at Quatre, though. He was sweating and his face was wet from tears. He must have been crying in his sleep. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Touma was quiet a moment. "It was chasing me."

"What was?"

"Blue yoroi (armor) that held a bow in one hand and an arrow in the other hand. It wanted to get me. I don't know why, but it was very important. It wasn't going to stop."

Quatre-

Quatre put his arms around Touma and let his brother cry. He sat with Touma until the other boy ran out of strength and fallen back into an exhausted sleep. As an empath, Quatre had always been intimately tuned in with other people's emotions and he could feel when Touma's fear entirely left him and he relaxed into a deep, peaceful dream.

'One day I'll tell you about my talent.' Quatre silently promised. 'You'd be grateful that I'm a freak. If it weren't for my talent, I wouldn't have told Rashid to stop the car that day and we wouldn't have found you. You'd still be out there. You might be dead. I'll tell Rashid about this in the morning. It's not like you've never had a nightmare before, though this yoroi is a new development. I guess we should be grateful that it wasn't about the rape, again. You'll be angry if I tell Rashid you need to see the therapist again, won't you? Well, maybe I'm just over reacting. It might have just been a nightmare.'

Tenderly as he could, Quatre lay Touma back down on the bed and covered him up. He resolved not to worry. Tomorrow was a new day and it would be a big one. Touma and Quatre were now fourteen and getting ready for high school. Knowing Touma, school would cheer him up a great deal. Quatre smiled fondly at the pile of textbooks Touma had left on the floor beside his bed, waiting for tomorrow.

The next day-  
First day of high school-

Touma apparently forgot all about the nightmare he'd had the previous night. He either forgot or just chose not to mention it. Quatre took his hint from Touma and didn't bring up the subject, though if Touma woke up screaming like that one more time, he would have a talk with Rashid.

The day had gone well for Quatre who liked being with all the people more than the schoolwork Touma seemed to live for. Touma threw himself into the work with a passion Quatre could never hope to match. For Quatre, this was a wonderful change. He was used to the private school on the colony where he usually lived with his father. Quatre hadn't gotten close to anyone at school, yet. Neither had Touma, though he didn't seem to care as much as Quatre did. After all this time, Touma still disliked and distrusted people.

During lunch, though, everything had gone down hill rather quickly. Quatre looked around at the bigger boys fearfully. Oh, he wasn't afraid for himself, but the situation could get out of hand very quickly. He didn't know high school was going to be like this! This sort of thing never happened at the private school. Where was Touma? Touma had grown into the habit of 'protecting' Quatre from bullies that seemed to be drawn to him like flies to honey. He was supposed to meet Touma at lunch, but these upperclassmen had caught him first.

"Come on, little boy." One of them said mockingly. "All we want is that fancy watch you have. You must have a dozen or so more at home. It's real gold, isn't it?"

"No." The watch was, in fact, solid gold, but he didn't want them to know that. The watch had been a present from Rashid on his tenth birthday and was precious to Quatre. At his other school, Quatre knew almost everyone had similar things on them, it wasn't important if someone wore a bit of gold to school.

Though he tried backing away, there was no where to run to. They were surrounding him! Quatre swallowed hard as they started to close in. Stupid, really, to wear such an expensive piece of jewelry to a school where he didn't know what the people were like. He might have known this could happen. He should have known.

Quatre's eyes grew wide as the boy's advanced, closing in like sharks around a wounded fish. He would have to fight at this rate and, if he did fight, someone was going to get hurt. More than likely, it would NOT be him. After all, Rashid and Abdul did raise and train him, so of course they'd taught him to protect himself. He just really hated fighting. Quatre started to slip into a fighting stance and hoped he wouldn't hurt any of them to badly. The last time he'd had to fight, he'd landed a boy in the hospital.

"How about picking on someone a little bigger?"

That drew everyone's attention away from Quatre and he felt a hand on his arm, pulling him out of the middle of all the boys. It was Touma! Touma smiled at Quatre and put a finger to his lips, signaling him to be quiet as they snuck away while the attention of Quatre's attackers was diverted.

"I found some friends to help." Touma whispered slyly. Once they were safely out of the middle of the way, Quatre looked at the friend's Touma had found.

Two boys looked somewhat similar in the face, but while one was large and muscular, the other was small and slender. The first boy had almost curly, loose ash colored hair and the other had his ink black hair pulled back tightly into a small pigtail.

It was the larger boy who spoke first. "Man, I hate cowards! Picking on someone half your size and ganging up on him? What a bunch of losers!" He snorted at the absurdity of the whole situation.

"I agree completely, for once." The smaller boy said. "It's a crime to see this happen at a school, also. Perhaps you should just leave. I'm sure no one would miss you. This is a center for learning, after all and you don't look like you do much of that!" He spoke very arrogantly, but his hands were clenching and unclenching, as if he hoped they would say or do something to start a fight.

The larger one punched his friend in the arm. "It's high school, Wufei. Loosen up. If they want a fight so bad, I think we can oblige them. Don't you?" Then he looked at Quatre. "Hey, you don't mind if we take your place, do you?"

Quatre numbly shook his head. 


	2. Cousin of the Dragon

Chapter 2: Cousin Of the Dragon

Space - colony A0206 Wufei-

Chang Wufei, heir and only son of the Chang clan, ran a hand over his face and back over his hair. He felt like he looked harried and he hated looking anything less than perfect. Image was important and one must always look in control. Even if one just wanted to crawl under the desk and cry.

Tax requirement for funeral expenses.

The bold print lettering at the top of the paper made Wufei bite the inside of his cheek. He did that more than he liked, but at least no one else could tell he was doing it. Why tax the dead? It just didn't make any sense, but there it was. He went on reading the most recent bill. The funeral had been costly, but how could he have spent less and dishonored his father's memory? Everything had to be done correctly, every rite observed. Now, all of it had to be paid for and Wufei was having a hard time figuring out just where the money would come from. He would have to keep the business running or fall into debt, something his father would have hated. He was going to have a hard enough time paying off his father's funeral and now he was being taxed because of it. More accurately, his mother was being taxed.

Slamming the paper down on the desk, Wufei let out a snort of frustration. His mother didn't know how deeply in debt they were. Thinking of that made Wufei look around the room that used to be his father's office. The rugs were gone, those were among the first things that had been sold. The walls were empty with squares of different colored paint on the walls that showed where the paintings had once hung. They hadn't been very expensive paintings, but Wufei missed them. There had been one in particular that had hung in the corner near the large potted plant, that Wufei had especially liked. It had been a single tree in the dead of winter covered in snow. The frame had been worth more than the painting, but Wufei still missed it.

The worst part of it was the it wasn't just the office. The whole house was like this. Empty. Depressing. Since his father had died, it was like the whole house had died, also.

'Like this is going to help at all.' Wufei sat up and deliberately straightened his back, as if that would clear his mind. 'Sitting here doing nothing. The house isn't important. The things aren't important. The medicine IS important. Mother is important.' It was the medicine that was the trouble, though. It was experimental, but the best chance of saving his mother.

The books would have to be sold, no matter how much it hurt. He'd already had to sell off most of the family's business, not that it had been a huge business. They were book sellers. The only books sellers on the colony, they'd been responsible for supplying all the books to school as well as research material and just books for pleasure. Their store had been more a combination of store and library. The elder Chang had always been so proud of the store, Fox Tales, and only a few weeks after his death Wufei had gone and lost it. Now, Wufei had only one room of the house where he kept the most treasured books. Those were the antiques, the ones that were nearly impossible to find and the ones that were worth a great deal of money to collectors.

'I'll have to sell those off, too.' There was a sharp pain in his chest when he thought about the loss of those books. They were some of his favorites. His eyes fell on the tax paper again and went down to the bottom line that told the amount that his family owed to the government. As soon as mother died, he'd owe double that amount plus the funeral expenses. The books would definitely have to be sold.

It was charity that killed Wufei's father. Chang Li had been giving books to the school on L2. There was only one school on the little colony and it had very few resources. When he'd heard this, Wufei's father had taken hundreds of books to the school and returned not knowing that he'd been tainted with the plague. 

'He can't have known. If he'd known, he wouldn't have come home and risked us. I can't believe he'd have done that.' Why Wufei wasn't affected by the plague when he'd been exposed just as much as his mother, Wufei had no idea. He hadn't even caught so much as the sniffles from the disease that killed his father and that made Wufei feel illogically guilty. L2 was on the edge of ruin , nearly everyone there dying from a plague there was no cure for. However, it seemed that some doctors on Earth had recently developed a cure, but the price was steep. Far too steep for anyone on L2 to afford and it looked nearly too steep for Wufei.

Wufei wasn't even sure that the last books of his father's collection would be enough to buy enough medicine to save his mother. Just the first few treatments were enough to make Wufei ready to sell off everything they had. It wasn't even as if he were working alone on this. For the first time, Wufei had swallowed his pride and asked for help with the money.

"Young master," It was Dai, the only remaining servant, who stood in the doorway. He'd been old for as long as Wufei could remember, though now the man was starting to look frail. It was hard to see him like this. Dai had been the one who'd taught Wufei the fighting arts, a second father, really. "We've just received word from the elder of the Long clan."

Wufei smiled with relief, but it faded when he saw that Dai didn't look at all happy. "What's wrong? It's good news, isn't it?"

"Lady Long sends word that the medication has been delivered to her estate. She is sending a courtier over immediately and he will arrive in just a few hours. I think it will arrive too late, though."

Wufei could feel the blood draining from his face and it must have been too obvious because Dai was at his said, pressing a cup of something hot to his lips and forcing Wufei's head to tilt back, the drink sliding down his throat and burning all the way. "Young master, breathe deeply. You will faint if you don't control yourself."

Whatever it was that Dai fed him worked and Wufei revived. "You paid mother a visit on your way here, I take it."

"You should go to her."

"Father lasted for months before he died." Wufei protested. "If we'd known about the medication when he first became ill, we could have saved him. She's only been sick a few weeks."

Dai looked at him from watery eyes under his heavy, white eyebrows. "Please, go to her. She's been asking for you."

Reluctantly, Wufei stood. His hands were shaking and he couldn't seem to stop. Putting the palms of his hands on the desk, Wufei paused to control himself. His father would be shamed if he saw how little self-control Wufei had. "You're sure?"

"I am. I don't want to give you anymore pain than you are already suffering, master, but you must see her. Now." Dai looked tired. More than tired. He looked world weary. Defeated. It wasn't fair to him. Dai had served the Chang family his whole life and now it was going to end. Wufei wouldn't be able to afford to pay him, shortly. In fact, he was the only servant who hadn't already left. It wasn't just because of the lack of pay, but they were all afraid of the plague. Only Dai was brave enough to stay.

Wufei did as he was told and wordlessly walked away from the desk, now that he felt he could walk without falling, and left Dai behind in the office. The house was quiet, lately. It hadn't been so long ago that the Chang house had been filled with visiting friends and people stopping by on business. The servants had all left, except for Dai. Now, the empty halls echoed Wufei's footsteps, no matter how quietly he walked, and the air was cold. It shouldn't be. All atmosphere was the same on the colonies, even on a decrepit colony like this one. Maybe it was just him.

The bedchambers of Chang Yaun were near the garden. She liked it there because she could smell the flowers, even if she could no longer leave her bed. He knocked politely before opening the door. "Mother? May I come in?" The only room that had remained mostly untouched was the room where Wufei's mother lay dying. He couldn't bring himself to sell her blankets or the music box that gave her such pleasure. That one room was exactly like it had been before everything changed.

"Ah, my little one." Her voice was thin and reedy, not at all like it should have been. His mother was a strong woman, capable of anything. The fact that a disease was able to lay her so low hurt Wufei. "Where are you? Come closer." She looked terrible, even worse than she had the day before. Her hands were skeletal claws, her skin so pale that Wufei could see the blue blood veins just under the surface. Her hair had nearly all fallen out and her face…

"Hello, mother."

"Wufei, come hold my hand a while." She reached out with one hand for him and Wufei took the hand with only a moment's hesitation. She smiled at his touch and that made it worthwhile. She had once been the most beautiful woman on the colony. Now the disease had eaten away at her, causing ugly boils and blisters to cover her white face. Her lips were cracked and bleeding. Thankfully, the disease had also blinded her. She couldn't see her face of which she'd once been so proud.

"How do you feel, mother?"

The smile dimmed slightly. "Like I am dying. Did you see to your father's arrangements? Dai said he would help you."

"He did. Everything's taken care of. The vaccine is still en route. It will be here soon. Lady Long just sent a message." He couldn't bring himself to lie to her and tell her everything would be alright. A glance at the life signs monitor on the other side of the bed showed Wufei that Dai had been right. She was failing, quickly. Lady Long had given them the medical equipment when Wufei's mother and father had refused to leave their home. They'd been living there too long to give it up. 'A stupid decision.' Wufei thought, bitterly. They all knew Lady Long could have kept his parents in greater comfort than he could alone. He hated asking for help even more than his parents did, but this wasn't for something petty, it was for their lives. They should have accepted Lady Long's offer. 'It wouldn't have gotten the medicine here any sooner, though. They don't have anymore money than our clan does.'

"Ah. She's a good woman. A person you can respect." She didn't believe it and Wufei couldn't bring himself to push her. "You are the last of our clan, Wufei. I must ask you to keep to the agreement that was made with the Long clan. I know this is hard for you, your father's death and now my own will hurt for a long time. Don't do anything foolish after my death, no matter how much you hurt."

"Meiran and I will marry, I give you my word. You have nothing to worry about."

His mother's smile would have been radiant if she hadn't lost most of her teeth already. "Good, good. I love you, Wufei. You were always my pride. No matter what happens, your father and I will always be proud of you." She sighed and coughed. She kept coughing until blood splattered out of her mother and onto the back of Wufei's hand.

"Mother? Let me call the doctor." He tried to get up, but she wouldn't let go of his hand.

"Stay with me, just a little while. There's nothing that can be done, now. Fate will not be denied. Sit and see me to the end. This isn't something to be afraid of. I will be with your father and that pleases me very much."

She died shortly after that with blood running down the sides of her mouth and her sightless eyes staring into emptiness. Her hand grew cold in Wufei's, but he couldn't bring himself to let her go. The unnatural buzz of the life monitor filled the room.

Wufei sat there for a long time until Dai put a hand on his shoulder. "Master Chang, you must come away, now."

"I know."

When Wufei didn't make any move to stand, Dai stepped to the other side of the bed and disconnected all the little wires that had monitored Lady Chang's life in its final moments. The terrible buzzing sound stopped and the room was too quiet. "I could hate the quiet." Wufei said, suddenly.

Dai pulled the blankets up to cover Wufei's mother's face. "Then let's go somewhere with more noise. Lady Long and Meiran will…"

"No. I have arrangements to make." Wufei stood up and wrenched his eyes away from his mother's shroud. "Mother and father wanted this to be done without interference from outside, they made that pretty clear."

"I'm sure they didn't mean for you to do this alone."

"I can't be sure of that, can I?" There was so much to do. The physician would have to be called in to document the time of death. The coffin maker would need to be called back and a site would need to be dug. Wufei swallowed hard and tried to blink away the burning in his eyes. "Dai, please close this room until the physician is able to complete the necessary paperwork." He turned to leave.

"Where are you going?"

"I need…there are things to do. I will inform Lady Long of…what has happened." He should be crying, shouldn't he? When his father had died, Wufei hadn't cried because he was too worried about his mother. He'd had to be strong for her. Now there was no one he had to be strong for, no one he had to protect. Shouldn't he cry? They were his parents. He loved them.

Dai followed him out of the room. "The other clans will wish to visit and pay their respects."

"I understand."

Days later Wufei was summoned to the estate of the Long clan to meet with Lady Long Huan. He didn't really have any choice in the matter considering the circumstances. He was still a minor and was very fortunate that Lady Long had declared temporary guardianship over him. She let him keep his freedom and it kept the authorities off his back.

Naturally, Wufei had asked Dai to come along with him. He couldn't leave the old gentleman at home all alone, that just wouldn't be right. Besides, Wufei could count on one hand the number of times he'd gone anywhere without Dai. However, when they reached the Long estate, they were greeted by a servant almost as old as Dai. "Greetings, Master Chang. You are expected in the back garden. Lady Meiran has asked that you forgive her for not greeting you properly, but her studies keep her busy today."

"Of course." Wufei started around the large house to the back garden, but stopped when he heard the servant speak to Dai.

"Will you join me for tea, Mr. Dai? I'm sure you're tired from your journey."

Obviously, Lady Long wanted to speak with Wufei in private. Wufei nodded to Dai and watched as the two gentleman walk off together. Must be serious if Lady Long felt the need for privacy. HE found her sitting on one of the stone benches and bowed respectfully. Very soon, he would be part of her clan and under her rule.

"Wufei," Lady Long greeted in her thin voice. "You honor me with your presence. You are well? I had expected you to come live in my home after your mother's passing."

"There is no need for me to disrupt your home, Lady Long. There is still paperwork to finish and bills that need paying."

"My people will take care of the last of your paperwork and your bills." Her face was just as kind and genial as it had ever been. "You will be going to Earth to live with family there."

For a moment, Wufei was sure he'd heard wrong. He'd had always had a terrible temper, even if he did like to pretend otherwise. If it had been anyone else, Wufei might have exploded like a firecracker. Lady Long was one to be respected, though. For her, he held his tongue for as long as he could. It didn't last long. Wufei glared angrily, his hands bunched into fists at his sides. He knew that he probably looked ridiculous, nothing but a child having a temper tantrum, but he just couldn't help himself. This was just…just unfair! "I want to stay here!"

"What you want is of no importance, my child." She was ancient, at least that was how she looked. A tiny woman, Lady Long was pale and wrinkled with age. Her eyes, however, were sharp and no one could help but feel uncomfortable when she turned her gaze on them. She was a very clever woman, always planning something. She sat on a stone bench in the garden with both of her hands on the top of her wooden cane as she watched Wufei. "You will go and you will be thankful to your aunt. To do otherwise would be to bring dishonor to both the Long clan and the Chang clan."

Wufei bit his tongue, again. It was unfair to bring that into the situation. He already knew what he had to do to uphold honor. What made him angry was that no one had bothered to ask him in the first place. Damn it! He wasn't a child! Lady Long had always treated him with utmost respect in all matters before this. What had changed? Or was it that she'd just been humoring him all this time? "I have not seen or spoken to my aunt in many years. It would be discourteous to simply expect her to take me in. I am perfectly capable of looking after myself."

(My little one, aren't you tired? Please, put down your studies and go to bed.) Mother had laughed when she thought Wufei acted too grown-up. (You'll get wrinkles if you frown like that. Give me a kiss then hop to bed, my scholar. You make me so proud.)

The back garden of the Long Clan's main home was quiet in the late afternoon, with only Wufei and the eldest member of the Long clan in it. It was rarely so quiet and Wufei had a dreadful feeling that he knew why the gardens were deserted. Lady Long had wanted to have privacy when she broke the news to Wufei which meant that she'd known that Wufei wouldn't react well. She should know it. Everyone had been walking on eggshells around him since his parents had died, even Dai.

It had been three days since Wufei's parents had died, and in those three days Wufei had shed not one tear for them. He didn't have time for it, there was just too much to do with selling of his father's company, seeing to the funeral arrangements, his martial arts training, preparing for his upcoming wedding, and all the other little things that just had to be done. Wufei was mature for his age, everyone said so. He knew, no matter what Lady Long's opinion was, that he was making his parents proud by taking charge of his life and not letting his emotions destroy him.

Lady Long-

"It is for the best if you go to stay with your family for a while, Wufei. Your aunt won't mind you staying with her, so you do not have to worry about any discourtesy." Lady Long told Wufei, trying to sound unconcerned. In truth, she was very fond of serious, scholarly Wufei, but she was not there to coddle him. She needed to do what was best for the boy who would one day be married to the next head of the Long Clan, Long Meiran. What was best for Wufei was what was best for the clan. Though Wufei would not be the head of the clan, he would be a powerful influence on Meiran. She looked up to him a great deal and respected him. Meiran was no simpleton, but even the elder, Meiran's own grandmother, had to admit that Wufei was the more intelligent of the pair. Intelligence and strength, a perfect combination. Together, they would bring greatness to the clan.

Wufei's eyes widened at the implications of the remark. "You've already contacted my aunt? Without asking me!" His face looked betrayed and horrified that someone would go begging his aunt to take him in. The Chang clan, though they'd always been smaller and less wealthy than the Long family, were a proud people and Wufei was the culmination of all that pride.

'Smaller than ever, now. A clan on one.' It saddened her to know that after Wufei married into the Long clan, the Chang clan would be no more. His family's line ended with him. Lady Long nodded calmly, not bothering to acknowledge Wufei's anger. Wufei was usually angry, lately. It was understandable and survivable. It wasn't like Wufei thought, though. She wasn't begging his aunt to take him in, his aunt had asked for Wufei to come live with her family. She didn't try to explain that to Wufei, he wouldn't have cared at that point. He was too caught up in being angry. Wufei's aunt's family weren't Changs or Longs, but related to Wufei through marriage on his mother's side. "Your aunt said that she would be very pleased to have you. She was most saddened by the loss of your parents and surprised that you did not contact her yourself."

Wufei-

Wufei slammed his hand into on of the stone walls that surrounded the garden. "I am not some infant that needs minding, nor am I a stray puppy that needs a home! I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself!" He was only fourteen, granted, but Wufei was intelligent.

"Perhaps," Lady Long agreed. "But you have no family here. Not anymore."

Wufei was brought up short by the cold remark. A pain in his chest throbbed. He'd always known that he would marry Meiran, it had been arranged. Therefore, he'd always been welcomed in the Long clan and he'd even gotten used to thinking of Lady Long as a sort of grandmother.

"Your family is now on Earth and you must go to them."

Wufei's eyes narrowed. "I have Meiran." He reminded Lady Long. "We are to marry in four months and I will have the Long clan to care for. I will have family here very soon. If nothing else, I have Dai to provide for. He's as much family as anyone by blood."

"Your loyalty to your servant is commendable, but it has nothing to do with this situation. I will take Dai into my own household, you have no need to worry for him. I think we can agree that at his time of life a journey to Earth would be too much stress for him. Your bills and debts have already been paid. This morning my family's accountant took care of them and transferred all your assets to the Long clan. Your mother gave me such authority when she realized she'd become ill. She told you, I believe." Lady Long smiled. "As for the marriage, I have not forgotten. Do not think that I wish to change the agreement in anyway. You bring great honor to my clan by choosing to join it. Until then, you must be with your family. My granddaughter will still be here in four months and you may, of course, write to her." The old woman suddenly looked tired and sighed. "Wufei, you are like my own family, you know that, but the council is agreed. You need to go to Earth and spend time with your family."

Lady Long-

They stayed like that, staring at each other for a long time, until Wufei bowed curtly and walked away without another word. The elder shook his head sadly. It really did hurt to do that to the young man, but Wufei was a headstrong boy, determined to do things his way instead of thinking out the most sensible route. This time, the sensible route had been decided by Meiran, Wufei's betrothed. It was she who'd encouraged her grandmother to do this.

'As his future wife, it's only right that Meiran make such a decision for him. It's her place to protect him.'

Wufei needed time to heal. Time to be a child instead of the adult he'd been while his parents sickened and grew weak with disease. Wufei needed time to mourn and he wouldn't do that here worrying about Meiran and paying the bills. If Wufei could go to school with ordinary kids and have someone take care of him for a while, perhaps he would let himself grieve. Perhaps he would still be able to marry Meiran and take over the Long clan as Lady Long was hoping for.

Only when Wufei was over his loss would Meiran agree to marry Chang Wufei and bring his strong personality into their clan. Wufei would be great one day, the elder knew. He was strong and intelligent, and a very, very good person. But he didn't give himself time to play as a child should and no matter what Wufei wanted to think, he was still a child.

Lady Long sat on one of the stone benches in her clan's garden, very aware of her granddaughter walking up behind her. "Did your talk go well?" Meiran asked, sitting beside her grandmother. "I saw Wufei stomping out of here with a face like a thunder cloud."

Lady Long laughed softly. "You know the boy better than anyone, child. I think you can judge how it went."

Meiran, a strong willed girl who could easily matched Wufei in almost anything, sat next to her grandmother, her own face as serious as Lady Long's. "Yes, but you know I'm right about this, don't you? Wufei won't let himself get better if he stays here and I won't marry him unless he can mourn his parents properly. On Earth he can do it better. I have heard his aunt is a very kind, gentle soul. I believe he needs to be away from life here." They also both knew Wufei wouldn't have listened if Meiran had tried to tell him. She was his own age. The order had to come from an older person he respected.

"Yes, I understand your reasoning and I think you're right. Still, it does seem almost cruel. He may be worried you won't be here when he gets back. That you will find another to take his place." Lady Long took a fond look at her tomboy granddaughter. She still wore her hair in pigtails, despite the efforts of her mother and aunt to turn her into a proper lady. Even now, she wore her training gi, the white outfit she wore when training in her fighting skills.

Meiran laughed, a sweet sound quite contrary to her rough appearance. "Grandmother, you're talking nonsense! There is no one quite like Wufei and no one else is good enough for me. You know that!"

Meiran-

But in her mind, Meiran was worried. Wufei was the greatest of all men, in her opinion, and she was only an ordinary, rather plain looking girl. How could she possibly expect him to come back to her? There were many, many girls on Earth. What if Wufei found another who stole his heart? Meiran didn't think she could bear it.

With a sigh, Meiran stood. "I need to talk to Wufei, grandmother. He's probably looking for me by now." She kissed her grandmother on the cheek before heading to the field where she and Wufei usually met. Well, if Wufei did find another girl to love, it would be all right. So long as he was happy.

Three days later Wufei and Meiran parted ways at the shuttle he would take to Earth with a chaste kiss. He obviously wasn't at all happy about the turn his life had taken, but he was good enough not to take out his unhappiness on her. He'd said his goodbye's to everyone with a promise to write regularly to Dai. "I won't forget you." Meiran said softly. "Be sure you don't forget me."

"How could I possibly? I will write as often as I can. Four months isn't such a long time. I'll be home in no time..." He stopped talking as Meiran suddenly held out a tiny white box. "What's this?"

"Just a gift. Open it."

Wufei did as he was told, surprised to find a tiny gold dragon on a gold necklace chain inside. Wufei carefully took it out. "It's beautiful." He told her honestly, admiring it. Wufei slipped it over his head, letting it fall onto his chest. "Beautiful and very familiar." He added, pulling an identical box out of his pocket.

Meiran smiled and opened it to find the same dragon she'd just given him, but in silver with a silver chain. "Great minds think alike." She whispered, putting on her necklace. "I'll wear it always."

Wufei-  
On Earth-

It was days later when Wufei stood on the busy China Town street in Japan with his small bag in one hand and a piece of paper in the other hand. He looked at a small, homey looking family restaurant and then looked back down at the paper in his hand. The address was quite correct. Wonderful smells wafted out of the restaurant and Wufei almost smiled. He wasn't happy at being sent here, but if he had to stay, at least it looked like a nice enough place. Vastly different from home, though.

Walking in, Wufei was not very surprised at the large crowd, with such good smells filling the streets, people must be greatly attracted to this place. Nearly every table was filled, the atmosphere was pleasantly busy, but not overly boisterous. This was probably due to the waiter, a very large young man, built, not like a weight lifter with a sculpted body, but more like someone who spent his life at hard physical labor. He looked like the sort who could easily stop any trouble before it got out of hand. The boy looked about Wufei's age and was Chinese.

The waiter balanced several trays on his arms, navigating through the crowds while delivering orders and taking them with a sunny smile and a deep laugh. Wufei suddenly recognized the laugh and the wide smile as his cousin, Xiulei. Xiulei had only been about six when Wufei had last seen him, and he had grown much in the intervening years.

At the counter, was a large woman in an apron and her hair tied back was cooking with her back to the crowd in the open kitchen. Wufei sat at the counter, setting his bag down on the floor and waited.

Finally turning to yell at the waiter, the woman noticed Wufei sitting there. Her mouth fell open with surprised happiness. "Wufei-chan! Come give auntie a hug!"

Anyone else would have gotten a disdainful sneer, but auntie Faun was another matter entirely. No one refused her. Wufei made his way around the counter and gave his aunt a warm hug, feeling almost buried in her large arms. Truthfully, he did love her dearly and the wonderfully casual manners that were a stark contrast to the other side of his family. He'd missed this side of his family when they'd decided to move away from the colonies to settle on Earth. It was good to have familiar faces here, even if he hadn't seen them in years.

"It's nice to see you again, auntie." Wufei said once she'd released him from the bear hug. Auntie was not a woman to take lightly, Wufei would admit to anyone. She may look fat, but she was strong as an ox and had earned respect from anyone who knew her. She was compassionate and, at the same time, hard as nails, she couldn't be any other way and raise her huge brood of children. In fact, it was auntie who'd gotten Wufei interested in martial arts in the first place.

Auntie Faun ran her fingers through his immaculate hair, ruffling it nicely. "Good to see you, too, sweetie. Your cousin is busy right now, but he'll be so pleased to see you. You must be exhausted from your trip, would you like to rest? I thought they said you'd be here tomorrow."

"No, thank you." Wufei answered her first question. "I was intending to be here tomorrow, but there was no room at the hotel I was going to stay at tonight. I decided to walk here. I hope you don't mind me being early."

Auntie Faun laughed happily. "Mind? What are you thinking, boy? Of course I don't mind! Xiulei! Xiu"

The waiter turned at the sound of his name and came trotting over obediently. "Yes, mama?" He asked, casting a curious look at Wufei who still had his aunt's arm around his shoulders.

"Xiu, you remember your cousin, Chang Wufei. He's going to be staying with us for a while. That means he's bunking with you. After the lunch crowd leaves, go to your pigsty and clean it. I mean it this time, Xiu." She gave him a hard look. "At least give your poor cousin a place to sleep. Half of your junk can go in the garbage."

Xiu's shoulders sagged. "Oh, all right, mama. Noodles and chicken for table six." Xiu announced before wading back into the crowd with his tray of food. Auntie Faun turned back to her cooking, but didn't stop talking to Wufei.

"Stir that pot, dear." She handed Wufei a large wooden spoon, indicating the black pot with a soup simmering in it. Wufei, although a bit surprised, did as she told him. Wufei had never before been asked to do any kind of manual labor that he didn't want to do. Well, apparently things were going to be different with auntie. 'Xiu looks so different, he's huge! I can't believe we're the same age.' Wufei thought. 'I didn't recognize him at first, but it has been a long time.'

"I'm sorry I didn't call, auntie, but it was rather sudden." Wufei's thoughts went back to the disease that had taken the lives of both his mother and father. He had to be strong! How could anyone respect him if he couldn't even control himself? Wasn't that what father always said?

Auntie Faun's face fell, looking at him and suddenly leaving her cooking. She drew him in for another, gentler hug. "I heard all about it, sweetie. The elder of the Long clan told me when she called several days ago. Don't you worry. Your home is here, now. You're part of my family."

Wufei was quietly grateful and gave her a squeeze in return. Not that there was any real doubt. Auntie Faun was well known for her big heart and the fact that she'd probably have taken him in if he'd been a complete stranger.

Xiu-

Xiu led his cousin up the narrow, dark stairs to where the family lived above the restaurant. "So, do you have any brothers or sisters?" Xiu asked, more for something to say than out of real curiosity. Xiu's mama had told him all about his family on the colony, even though they hadn't visited in years. Xiu knew that Wufei had just lost his mom and dad and that he was an only child. His cousin was so quiet that Xiu was dying from the silence.

"No. Why do you ask?"

Wufei was so formal that it was almost funny. Xiu liked this cousin he hadn't seen since he was a child and barely remembered him. There was something about Wufei that felt very right and Xiu trusted him. Paused dramatically at the door to their home, Xiu smiled at Wufei. "You are in for a lesson in children, my dear cousin." He swung the door open and was sadistically pleased to see Wufei's eyes bulge at the normal, everyday scene of his family.

One of Xiu's little brothers had a face covered in chocolate he got from God knows where. Two other brothers were brawling over the remote for the TV. The smallest sister was wailing at the top of her lungs for her bottle, which another brother had taken and was hitting his older sister over the head with. Said sister was crying, but was also six, so she could yell much louder than the little one. The television was blaring at full volume with character from some cartoon fighting. All in all, eight children under the age of seven were making as much noise and chaos as they possibly could.

"Welcome to my world." Xiu tried not to laugh at Wufei's expression. "Come on in, they don't bite much. Except for Mei Lin." He pointed to a three-year-old with a pacifier in her mouth. "Mama doesn't like the pacifier, but it keeps her mouth away from the others. Don't step on anyone, they move fast. Lock the door behind you, Chung likes to sneak out."

Wufei hastily did as Xiu instructed. He'd never had to deal with anyone younger than himself! The children were acting insanely, but the lock clicked into place nicely and Xiu was making his way through the mess of children. "Chung! Wing!" Xiu pulled the two fighting boys apart, holding them both up off the ground, one in each hand. "Knock it off!"

"But, Xiu!" Chung whined. "He..."

"No!" Wing interrupted. "He..."

"Don't want to hear it!" Xiu told them sternly. "We have a guest, stop the fighting or I'll go get mama's Bad Ass from the kitchen and your butt will get a warming. Got it?"

Wufei couldn't help but ask, "Bad Ass? You shouldn't curse in front of children."

"Mama's big wooden spoon." Xiu answered. "She's quick as lightening with it, so don't cross her in the kitchen. Trust me, I know from experience."

The two brothers, obviously twins, quieted down instantly and Xiu set them on the couch to quietly watch the cartoon again. Then he moved to another brother, Fai, who'd taken the baby's bottle and gave him a sharp tap on the top of his head. "Aren't you ashamed? Making little Lai cry?" Xiu snatched the bottle back, gave it to the baby and handed the tiny baby to Wufei. "Just put her in the playpen, will you? It's safer there."

Wufei held the baby as if it were a venomous snake instead of a happily drinking baby. Xiu would bet money Wufei had never held a baby, either. Xiu had no time to waste and moved to the crying six-year-old who had been getting her head whacked by the bottle. "Stop crying, Kwan. You're not hurt."

"I'm not?" Her tears instantly dried up as she looked up at her big brother.

"Nope."

"Oh. Okay." With that, she wandered off to watch the TV with her other brothers.

Xiu counted the children, including the one Wufei was still gingerly holding as he couldn't seem to figure out how to put her down without dropping the bottle. Yep, for once, everyone was where they were supposed to be.

"Um," Wufei said, sounding desperate. "Can I have a little help, Xiu? I can't...ahhh!" Wufei nearly panicked when Lai burped, spitting up on Wufei's fine new black suit he'd bought just to make a good impression on his everyone. The suit looked ridiculously expensive, but it was Wufei's money so he could waste it anyway he pleased. Xiu wordlessly took baby Lai and put her in her playpen, and turned to see Wufei trying to clean his shirt.

"Don't bother, maybe we can get it out in the wash in the morning. It's only spit up, after all." Xiu pointed to several faded stains on his own shirt, evidence of his work with the baby. Xiu took a deep breath. This was looking to be an easy afternoon. "Well, how to you like your new home?" Xiu asked, gesturing grandly to the room around him, very proud.

Wufei's face darkened. "This is not my home. My home is A0206, this is just a place I'm staying for a few months."

Xiu glared at him. 'And I was just getting to like this jerk, too!' "Well, if we're not good enough for you, I suppose you'll just have to slum for the next four months, won't you! Sorry, the mansion's being fumigated!" Xiu turned on his heel and stalked into his room, slamming the door behind him.

Wufei-

Wufei sighed and winced when the door slammed behind Xiu. That was not the way he'd intended to act. He hadn't really meant to be insulting, but it had been an overwhelming welcome into the household. A tiny hand tugged on his pant leg and Wufei looked down at...which one was this?

"Are you gonna live with us?" The boy asked.

Wufei nodded slowly. "For a little while anyway."

"Good. I gotta pee."

Wufei's eyes widened with horror. "What?"

The boy held his crotch and started hopping from foot to foot. "I gotta go now! I'm gonna have an accident!"

Wufei looked over to the door where Xiu had vanished, but firmly told himself that he could handle this situation. Hewouldn't ask for help. "Well," He looked back at the boy. "Where's the bathroom?"

The boy shook his head sadly and sighed, "Too late." It was true. The blue jeans the child was wearing were already darkening and yellowish liquid was forming a puddle at the boy's feet.

Wufei's eye twitched and he, for once, gave up his pride. "Xiu! Help me!"

Xiu-

That night, Xiu was trying to get to sleep, but Wufei kept tossing and turning on the floor, muttering to himself in his sleep. Since the bed was so small, Wufei had elected, for a while, to sleep on the floor. Mama had promised to find a better place for Wufei to sleep, but for now it was the floor with a spare futon. "Mother...father...come back...I...I..."

Xiu looked down at Wufei's face twisted with whatever nightmare was causing the mumbling and Xiu felt pity. Mama had told Xiu why Wufei was staying with them, so he knew he should be more understanding when Wufei was being nasty. Besides, Wufei had apologized for his rudeness as Xiu was changing his little brother's pants. None of this could have been easy on Wufei and Xiu was pretty sure that the nightmares plaguing Wufei were about his now dead parents. That was something Xiu couldn't help but sympathize with. Papa Faun had died not three months ago when some idiot drunk driver hit him. Papa Faun had been walking to pick up Kwan at Kindergarten when the catastrophe had struck. His own family was just getting over the loss of his father when they'd got news of Wufei's tragedy. This was why Xiu worked in the restaurant now, instead of playing like other kids. He had to help mama or they might lose the restaurant.

Wufei began to thrash, bringing Xiu back out of his memories. "Don't leave me...mommy...daddy...please, don't leave me..."

The soft whimpering was too much for Xiu to bear. He crawled out of his bed and lay down at Wufei's side, touching his cousin gently on the forehead before starting to rub Wufei's arm softly. "Shhh. Don't worry. I'm right here."

Wufei quickly started to quiet, though he was still breathing hard. "I don't want to be alone." He mumbled in his sleep.

"I won't leave you alone. Just go to sleep and get some rest."

Wufei settled with Xiu's hand on his chest, and soon fell back asleep.

The next morning, as Xiu was showing Wufei how to fight for his breakfast amongst the younger children, he asked, "So, how did you sleep last night?"

Wufei answered. "Fine."

The answer was so abrupt that Xiu naturally didn't believe it. "Really? Did you know you talk in your sleep?"

Wufei snorted, "Don't be absurd! I've never talked in my sleep in my life!"

"Sure." Xiu wasn't sure what to do about all this. He knew that Wufei was hurting from his parent's deaths, but why wouldn't Wufei let it out? Xiu was no therapist, but he was pretty sure the nightmare from last night had something to do with Wufei holding in his sadness.

Two weeks later-

Xiu and Wufei had both enrolled in high school, though Wufei said this was a first for him. He'd always had tutors before and had never actually been to school. He didn't seem real fond of the idea, either. He didn't say anything in front of mama, though, and Xiu thought that maybe it was because she'd spent a good deal of their money getting Wufei a uniform that fit properly and a new book bag. Wufei had seemed embarrassed when mama had worked so hard to fix the hem on his trousers. Maybe it was the money. Xiu knew a lot of people didn't like borrowing money, but that seemed silly considering they were family. It wasn't like taking money from a stranger, after all.

They were walking to school, as the restaurant wasn't too far away, when Wufei told Xiu what he thought of the idea of school in general. "Get used to it." Xiu told him morosely. "School's gonna be a awful! Same old people, same old homework." He hung his head, depressed. The streets were, as usual, crowded, with many other students in uniform walking to school.

It was at about this time that something caught Xiu's attention. Two boys walking on the opposite side of the street from them, one with bright blonde hair and another, taller boy with blue hair. They were talking pleasantly, though the blue haired guy was smiling way too much for the first day of school in Xiu's opinion. It was as if he enjoyed school or something weird like that.

"Come on, it can't be all that bad. You can introduce me to all your friends." Wufei encouraged, taking Xiu's attention away from the two strangers. The blonde was no big deal, but Xiu was sure he had seen the blue haired kid somewhere before. He seemed so familiar. Oh well.

"I don't really have all that many friends." Xiu told Wufei. "Most folks think because I'm strong, I'm also dumb. Maybe it's true, maybe it's not. Who am I to say? I tend to break up fights more than I start and the tough guys don't like me, but they can't do anything about it because they know I'll break them in half if they try anything. My best friend works in a circus, so he's out traveling and isn't around much. We're expecting him and his sister to come for a visit soon, though, so you can meet them then. You'll like him, he's the greatest guy and a fantastic cook!"

Wufei-

His first day of school went about as Wufei had expected. He was bored out of his mind. The tutors his father had hired had been very demanding with his lessons so he already knew half the lessons. He had to wake Xiu up in two different classes, but the worst part was the other students. They were noisy and disrespectful to the teachers. Wufei was so irritated that by the third class he just wanted to run screaming from the room.

Lunch, which he also shared with Xiu, was a bit better. They managed to find a shady tree to eat under and auntie Faun packed a VERY healthy meal. Wufei wondered if they could finish it by themselves until Xiu dug in. He knew then that there would be no leftovers with that kind of appetite.

"What the Hell?" Both boys looked up from their lunch. There, not five feet away from them, the blue haired guy from their morning walk to school standing slightly to their left, glaring at something in the distance.

"Is there a problem?" Wufei asked, politely.

"My brother." The blue haired guy's voice was angry enough that Wufei stood up to look in the direction he'd indicated. "Just 'cause he's smaller than them they think they can pick on my brother! I don't think so!" The blue haired guy fumed angrily before starting forward at a determined pace with Xiu, curiously, staring after him.

On the other side of the yard, Wufei could see the blonde guy from this morning, surrounded by five larger boys. The blonde looked afraid and it was quite easy to tell what was going on. "Trouble. Do you think we should join him?" Wufei asked, looking down at Xiu.

Xiu stood up and looked at Wufei with a smile. "Well, I do have a reputation to maintain as a peacekeeper. I'd hate to have that kid hurt on the first day of school, wouldn't you?"

"It's not right to fight like that. Five to one is not fair odds."

"Good. Let's go play." Xiu smiled like a small child being let into a candy store.

This was one thing they'd discovered that they both had in common. Xiu and Wufei both loved to fight. Though Xiu preferred to use one of the weapons his mama was training him in, like the tsubo or the nunchucks, and Wufei used his scimitar, fighting just seemed to come naturally to them. In situations like this, though, they both knew bare hands were all that was needed.

They caught up with the blue haired guy and Wufei spoke softly. "We'll take care of them if you get your brother out of the middle quickly. I would hate for him to get hurt without reason."

The boy looked at them in surprise and distrust, though he didn't stop walking. Then he met Xiu's eyes and nodded. "No problem. I just want Kitty out of there. You can have the others."

Wufei watched the smaller boy try to back away, but the attackers weren't letting him get out of the situation. Then, to Wufei's surprise, the smaller boy started to crouch down into a fighting position. He wouldn't have thought of the boy as being a fighter. The boy was even subtle and it was very doubtful that his attackers even knew that he was getting ready to defend himself.

As soon as the blue haired boy had circled around to get closer to his brother, Wufei spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. "How about picking on someone a little bigger?"

That drew their attention away from their target and the blonde was pulled out of the middle of everything by his brother. The blue haired boy smiled at his brother and put a finger to his lips, signaling him to be quiet as they snuck away.

Wufei found himself examining the two as Xiu spoke. The blonde was shorter, but not weak looking, exactly. He looked...delicate. The other was taller, but thinner and had a hard edge around his eyes. He'd seen too much out of life and was determined to protect his brother from whatever he'd seen.

"Man, I hate cowards!" Xiu was saying. "Picking on someone half your size and ganging up on him? What a bunch of losers!" He snorted at the absurdity of the whole situation.

"I agree completely, for once." Wufei said, brining his mind back to his responsibility at hand. He just couldn't allow this sort of thing to happen. "It's a crime to see this happen at a school, also. Perhaps you should just leave. I'm sure no one would miss you. This is a center for learning, after all and you don't look like you do much of that!" Wufei knew he was speaking very arrogantly, but that was the best way to handle this sort of thing, in his experience. You had to sound far more confident than your opponent or you might have to actually fight. It was, of course, better not to fight at all, but if you had to you might as well enjoy it. Wufei wished he had his dagger with him, but his hands would be more than enough.

Xiu punched Wufei lightly in the arm. "It's high school, Wufei. Loosen up. If they want a fight so bad, I think we can oblige them. Don't you?" Then he looked at the blonde. "Hey, you don't mind if we take your place, do you?"

Kitty (what sort of name was that for a boy?) numbly shook his head.

"Who do you think you are?" The spokesman of the bullies asked nastily. "Xiu the brainless ox now has a sidekick of his own when his circus freak friend isn't here. What does this freak do?" Then something seemed to catch his eye. "That's a pretty necklace." The boy grinned at the dragon necklace Meiran had given Wufei. Wufei, proud of the gift, always wore it in plain sight. "Very pretty. Maybe we should take that instead of rich boy's watch."

Wufei nodded, trying not to explode at the thought of this idiot touching Meiran's gift. "Then it is agreed." He allowed himself a smirk and narrowed his eyes at the five bullies. "We know you tried to steal from that boy and we believe you would have beaten him if he tried to resist you. Therefore, I have no hesitation in giving you justice. Xiu?" This might just be fun.

"Oh," Xiu said as they started to advance on the five targets. "You know I'm with you on this one." Xiu cracked his knuckles menacingly and the two separated, to give each other room while fighting. "Who do you want?"

Wufei considered the stunned speechless boys. "I'll take him." He pointed to the one who'd originally demanded the watch and had dared to hint that he would touch Meiran's necklace. "He is the ringleader. I will break his left arm above and below the elbow."

Xiu frowned. "You always take the top dog for yourself." He spoke as if they got themselves into fights daily. With luck, this would be the first and only one. If they made an example of these lowlifes, then no one else would stand against them. "All right, but I want the leader next time. I think I'm just gonna put the other's knees out of action for a few weeks. Nothing to permanent, maybe just a limp."

"You are too soft, Xiu. Still, it is your own style, I suppose."

It must have been the methodical speech of how they were going to attack that scared the gang off. Either that or how Xiu suddenly pulled the stop sign for the bus out of the ground with one hand and started swinging it like a baseball bat. "Come on, who's first?"

The gang took off running.

The two strangers looked at each other and the one with blue hair said, "I think I'm gonna like them, Quatre."

Quatre smiled and nodded in agreement before stepping forward. "Hello. I'm Quatre Winner, this is my brother Hashiba Touma. Thank you so much for the help."

Wufei shook Quatre's hand. Ah, that explained it. Kitty was a nickname for Quatre. "A pleasure. I am Chang Wufei, this is my cousin, Faun Xiulei."

Touma shook Xiu's hand. The four were firm friends after that moment.

To be continued... 


	3. Twin Clowns

Chapter 3: Twin Clowns

Trowa-

He went by the name of Trowa Barton, but it wasn't really his. He used the name because everyone used it for him and he didn't bother to correct them. Why should he bother? The real Barton was dead and didn't need his name any longer. Why not borrow it? Just for a little while, anyway. It wasn't as if he was planning to keep it forever. He wasn't likely to live forever, not even for a very long time. He might not even live through the night.

The tavern was crowded and the air thick with smoke and the smell of beer, the most popular drink. It was loud, far too loud for Trowa's taste with the sounds of drunken laugher and minor brawls. It was, all in all, a disgusting place. It was also the perfect place for mercenary's to lay low until another job popped up. L4 wasn't as bad off as many of the other, smaller colonies, but it was bad enough. The crime was running rampant, but as a result, no one really paid any attention to another group trying to make a quick, if not quite honest, buck.

Trowa wasn't drinking, but the older men were and Trowa was stuck with them. He was apart of the group and was expected to stay with them. It was some idea to do with loyalty, not that Trowa put much stock in that sort of thing. So he sat in a corner with his back against a wall and watched his comrades. They weren't friends by any means, but it was interesting to watch them, in a way. In another way, it was dull as dirt. They were virtually drowning themselves in cheap beer and showed no signs of stopping. Most of them were relatively intelligent and normally sensible, but now they looked like a gathering of village idiots. He didn't understand why some people were willing to throw their lives away with alcohol. It will only make one careless and then dead. Everyone died, it was just a matter of time. What was important was the manner in which one lived. Trowa knew he would die and that he would probably die sooner than most people, considering his line of work. While he lived, however, he intended to do something important.

That something important was to overthrow the Alliance and the Romafella Foundation which ruled not only Earth, but the colonies in space with an iron fist. The politicians, spoiled by years without challenge to their authority, spoke of the public good and the welfare of the future, but their actions were far less noble. While they spoke of peace and butchered defenseless people. Trowa had seen enough evidence of their wanton greed and disregard for human life to know that they had to be stopped at all costs. If the cost was his own life, then there was nothing really lost.

A burst of laughter caught Trowa's attention and he looked to another corner of the tavern where several of the mercenaries he'd been working with for the past few months were ruddy -faced with drink and at the point of passing out. They weren't so inebriated that they couldn't shout loudly and obscenely at the harried serving girl. Fortunately, she was used to louts like that and gave back as good as she got. As she was sober, she was even more able to take care of herself. After one of the men grabbed her backside, the feisty girl turned on him and slammed her fist into his face. That only made everyone at that table laugh harder.

It was all vaguely disgusting. Still, Trowa thought that maybe it was one of the strange things adults did. He was fourteen, why should he presume to know how adults thought? He was only here to learn, not make any kind of impact on the lives of these people. 'Let them use their hard earned money to kill brain cells.' His trainer had instructed him to take the position with these mercenaries for the experience in fighting and tactical planning. 'I think I've learned all I can from them.' Trowa stood up from his place and started to make his way out of the tavern. 'It's time to leave.'

One of the men who was sitting at a table near Trowa looked up with watery eyes as Trowa walked by. His cheeks were flushed from the half gone drink in his hands. "Where ya goin', kid?"

Trowa didn't answer or even look back. The man meant nothing and Trowa had decided that he no longer belong with these people. Of course, that meant that he would need a new place to hide himself when he wasn't involved in his Gundam training. Heavy Arms was to be his Gundam and the trainer seemed to think that it was important for Trowa to know his machine inside and out. He worked for hours every day studying the schematics of Heavy Arms as well as studying the workings of the Alliance government. Between jobs with the mercenaries, Trowa would go back to the colony of L4 and do simulation flight training with his trainer and work with Heavy Arms. He rarely had free time and when he did, he didn't like to spent it in smoke filled, taverns with a bunch of drunks.

Outside the tavern, the air was much sweeter. Not good, but what could one expect on a colony? Nothing was ever really good. It was less bad than in the tavern and at least didn't reek of smoke and alcohol. Trowa looked up and down the street. Both ways looked pretty much the same and he had no reason to go either way. For a moment, he just stood there in the dim light and debated. He had no reason to be anywhere. He wasn't hungry, yet, and there was no training scheduled for a few days.

'I suppose I could just stand here all night.'

It was then that he happened to notice someone. To his left, Trowa saw a person hunched down staring into the window of a building. Curious, Trowa chose his direction and walked to the person. The closer he got, Trowa realized that the person was a boy. He was smaller than Trowa, but looked sturdier built. He stared into the window of, of all things, a pet shop. He was crouched down, sitting on his heels, and had both hands pressed against the glass.

Trowa stopped a few yards away from the boy and watched, curiously. He had very ordinary clothes, patched in places, and auburn hair with sideburns that were long out of style. The boy sniffed sadly about whatever he was looking at and wiped his eyes with the back of one hand. The position he was in was a very vulnerable one, especially in an area of the colony that didn't much care about law or order. The boy leaned forward then and nearly pressed his nose against the glass of the pet shop, he was so intent on whatever he was looking at. The boy sniffled again and Trowa saw a tear slide down his cheek.

"Why are you crying?" Trowa couldn't help but ask as he closed the distance between them. He stood right at the boy's side, but even then the boy didn't so much as look up at Trowa. There was nothing in the window but a fish tank with a few goldfish in some murky water

The boy looked up at Trowa then back to the fish tank. "The poor little things." Another tear ran down his face and he quickly wiped it away. "They're so sad, trapped in there. I feel badly for them."

How very kind. Trowa didn't often see that kind of compassion for humans, let alone for animals. It made him think well of the boy. "You shouldn't show weakness in a town like this. Others will make trouble for you." Trowa didn't bother to ask how he thought he knew what the fish are feeling. The boy was probably unbalanced, so it would do no good to try reasoning with him. Even if he was insane was there really anything wrong with liking animals? Frankly, Trowa had always preferred animals over humans. At least animals were honest. 'I wonder if anyone's supposed to be watching the boy, or if he's just been left out here to fend for himself.'

The boy stood up straight and spun on his toes to face Trowa. With his hands clasped behind his head, he smiled a bit sadly. "I know what you mean. This isn't really a very nice place, is it? I just can't help myself when I see the little darlings in a prison like that. I'm Mouri Shin." He bowed with a flourish before turning back to the petshop window. "You don't have to worry about me. I'm pretty well able to take care of myself."

"Trowa Barton."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Trowa. They're very beautiful, aren't they?"

Shin's voice was far away and dreamy, apparently thinking of nothing but the lazily swimming fish, even as he touched the glass with his fingertips. Trowa went to stand next to him in front of the petshop window and looked at the fish.

"Trowa, what are you doing out here?"

Shin and Trowa both turned to see Mayers, the commanding officer...correction, the 'former' commanding officer of the mercenaries, standing outside the tavern. He was the leader of the mercenaries for the simple fact that he'd killed the last leader and no one had yet tried to fight him for the title. That wouldn't last for long, no matter how good Mayers thought he was.

"I told everyone to stay in the tavern until I got details for our next job, didn't I?" Mayers was not a pleasant person. He had gotten to his position by sheer brute strength, and, Trowa would admit, a cunning nature. It didn't hurt that he was viciously ruthless. He had a way of making rivals disappear when they showed too much ambition. Mayers might have been a good-looking man, dressed as fine as a gentleman, but his face held a continuous sneer that ruined it.

Trowa didn't like or respect Mayers. So, instead of answering, he went back to looking at the display of fish with Shin. 'He's right. The fish really are very pretty.'

A hand landed on Trowa's shoulder. "Hey! Just because you're young doesn't mean that I'll excuse insubordination from you any more than I would another of the other men! Don't you dare ignore me!" Mayers' voice was rough and angry. More than likely, he was worried about Trowa, but not in a kind, fatherly way. Mayers was worried that Trowa was gaining too many admirers within the band, men who thought Trowa was clever and strong for being so young. Mayers worried about how different Trowa was and that others saw those differences. They would see that Trowa was cool and collected, able to deal with any situation that came about. Those were good qualities in a leader. Trowa had no interest in leading the mercenaries, but Mayers doesn't know that. Even if Trowa had told him, Mayers wouldn't have believed it.

Turning sharply and looking Mayers directly in the eye, Trowa said, "I'm leaving your people. You have no cause to fear me." It was perhaps a silly thing to say, given Mayers ego.

"Fear you?" Mayers' eyes widened at the thought. "Why should I be afraid of a kid? You think to much of yourself, boy." He was unhappy with the idea that he is afraid of Trowa, but Trowa could see it in his eyes. He was afraid of a 'kid' and that was why he was so angry. He's afraid that the fear will make him weak and then he would become just another target for one of the men under his command. He would be challenged just as he'd challenged the previous commander.

"Then go. Leave me. I will tell none of your secrets." Trowa just wanted him to go away. Shin is watching the confrontation but kept his mouth shut. Very smart. There wasn't any reason for him to bring himself to Mayer's attention. Goodness only knows what Mayers might have done if he'd realized they were being watched.

There was suddenly a gun barrel at Trowa's temple, pressing into his skin. "You know you can't just leave us, Trowa. No one just quits." Now this was interesting, but not entirely unexpected. Trowa knew he was in a dangerous position ever since he'd become a little too good at his job. Mayers was looking for an excuse to kill, but Trowa really didn't think he'd do it in the middle of the street. It was much more sensible to have Trowa killed during a job and make it look as if the enemy had done it or that it was just some stupid accident. The others would believe it, they really weren't smart enough to search out or find the truth. Perhaps Mayers wasn't as smart as Trowa had given him credit for. Still, it was night and Mayers might get away with this since there were so few people were out to be witnesses and the rest of the gang was drunk. He could just go back to the tavern after killing Trowa and act as surprised as everyone else when Trowa's body was found in the street. No one would question him. It might work, except that there was one witness. Shin.

'Oh, dear. That means Shin will have to be killed after I am. Well, I can't let that happen.' Trowa only needed to dodge slightly to make Mayers' gun slip and after that it was simple to disarm him. Trowa grabbed Mayers' wrist and twisted it enough that he yelped in pain.

Mayers brought up his other fist and tried to hit Trowa, but he must have been drinking as his reaction time was slower than normal. Trowa caught his fist and twisted it along with the other wrist, bringing him to his knees.

Unfortunately, Mayers' other men started to drift out of the tavern at this point, looking around for their missing leader. Trowa was quite lucky that they were mostly drunk. When they saw Trowa's attack on their leader, most couldn't react at all. One threw up all over his own shoes, two passed out, and one was drunk enough that he attacked Trowa with his bare hands. Stupid, really. That man was quickly face down in the street and Trowa knew he wouldn't be getting up for a good long while.

The last man standing drew his gun and started shooting wildly, bullets flying everywhere without direction. Glass shattered and Shin 'eeped' as one bullet shot passed inches from his face and broke the glass of the pet shop window, going straight through the fish tank Shin had been crying in front of.

"No!" Shin screamed, watching in horror as all the fish slosh onto the ground at his feet. He knelt, ignoring the battle Trowa was fighting and tried to save the fish, but there simply wasn't enough water left to save them. Shin ended up on his knees staring forlornly at the pitiful, dead fish with tears now streaming down his face.

Trowa leapt around, getting closer and closer as he tried to get the gun while avoiding bullets. This man was more dangerous than Mayers. He would kill innocent people without noticing, the way he was firing. Just as Trowa was almost at the man, Shin ran passed him and right into the gang of drunks the mercenaries had degenerated into with his face twisted with rage. Trowa stopped to watch Shin, as, apparently, he wasn't needed anymore.

Shin fought madly, almost insanely. He was fast and agile, kicking and punching with lightening speed he made his way through the disorderly crowd until he came to the shooter. Shin smacked the gun out of the other man's hand before giving the man a solid whack over the head, sending him crashing to the ground.

When it was over, Shin stood in the middle of the street, surrounded by bodies. He was barely winded and almost didn't seem to notice what he'd done. Shin wandered through the bodies back to the broken window and the now dead fish, still on the pavement. Kneeling again, Shin picked up the still fish one at a time until he had all six of them in his cupped hands. "Poor little beauties." He cried softly looking down at the fish in his hands. "Innocent bystanders always get hurt."

Trowa followed Shin, but wasn't sure why. Torwa trailed just behind Shin all through the city and to the park. It was a small grassed area maintained by growth lights with only a few trees. The one bit of Earth that had been brought to this colony, with only about four feet of soil for the plants to anchor their roots.

Shin sat cross-legged on the ground and looked back at Trowa. "Who are you, really?" Shin put the dead gold fish on the grass beside him and started to dig in the shallow soil with his hands. He dug a shallow pit, just enough to bury the fish. When he was finished, Shin bowed his head and mumbled a brief prayer. "Why did they want to kill you? These innocent lives died for you, Trowa." He reminded Trowa about the fish. Small lives but, to Shin, that didn't matter. Life was life.

"I was a mercenary working for them. I decided to leave. They wanted to fight me over my choice." Shin should have been able to tell what was going on through the conversation he'd just heard between Mayers and Trowa. He didn't seem to be overly stupid.

Shin thought it over and smiled, acceptingly. "Well, it's good that you want to get out of that sort of thing, right? You must be a good person. I'm sorry I hurt them, but they killed my fish."

"Your fish?" The fish had been in store, after all. How could Shin claim them?

"My fish. Come on, then. You move very well. If you're not going to be a mercenary anymore, would you like a new job?"

"What sort of job?" Trowa thought it best not to tell Shin about his real work. While the mercenary thing was just a cover, as well as a way to make money while waiting to be called into action, Shin must think it was horrible that Trowa was a killer for hire, despite how easily he'd accepted it. Wasn't that odd? Trowa didn't think people would normally react so carelessly when someone revealed that they were a mercenary. Shin didn't even seem to care. Still, the whole mercenary thing didn't even matter. Shin surely wouldn't want to know about the Gundams or Trowa's mission to destroy the Alliance. He certainly didn't need to know-that would only put him in danger. 'More danger than now.' Trowa admitted to himself. 'Just by being around me, he'll be in trouble. Mayers isn't likely to forgive so easily.'

Shin laughed and sprang to his feet. "You'll like it, I'm sure! And, from what I saw back in that fight, I think you'll be quite good at it. Come on!"

A short time later, Trowa followed Shin through a busy circus that hadn't yet set up for business. Trowa remembered some sign advertising this circus, on this colony for only about two weeks and this would be the last day. Everywhere they went, Trowa found people watching him suspiciously. He didn't bother looking back, but kept his eyes on Shin who seemed in constant danger of sprinting excitedly ahead. No one paid Shin any attention, so Trowa guessed that Shin must have been with the circus for quite a long while.

"Cathy!" Shin called, carefully stepping past people in all manner of costumes and animals that looked as if they had the run of the show. The circus must have just arrived at L4, from the looks of all the work going on. It was not an extremely large circus, but seemed well run and orderly. "We've lived here for almost as long as I can remember." Shin told Trowa, over his shoulder. "There wasn't much before the circus and none of it was very nice. It's much better here."

"We?"

"Cathy's my sister. Catherine Bloom."

"You said your name was Mouri."

"Same mother, different fathers. She's the greatest. Not really my sister, though, but it's close enough. She always takes care of me. Our parents died ages ago. I can't even remember them, but Cathy does." Really very sweet." He stopped suddenly and turned to Trowa with a faintly worried expression. "Just…don't get her angry. Okay?"

"Should I ask why?"

"Ummm…no." He smiled again. Did he always smile? "No, probably not. You seem like a nice person. She just gets angry easily, that's all."

"A lot of people have short tempers."

"Not a lot of people are experienced knife throwers, though. That's how we came to be with the circus. We've been with the circus since the ringmaster saw Catherine throwing her knives to defend herself against some robbers. She's deadly accurate."

"Ah." His sister throws knives? Now there's an interesting hobby.

"I'm glad you understand. Now, where is she?" Shin yelled again, "Cathy!"

From our of one of the brightly colored tents, they heard a voice, "I'm right here, Shin. What are you yelling about?" She was older than Shin, by a few years, and pushed the tent flap aside, striding out with an air of great confidence. She was very pretty and smiled sweetly at Trowa before looking at her brother. Trowa saw that they shared the same slight build and auburn hair though her hair curled and bounced when she walked.

"I have an idea for our act. This is Trowa." Shin introduced and Catherine politely held out her hand. Trowa took it, giving her a gentle shake. Catherine's face became guarded and she looked at him closely even as Shin spoke, almost as if she were inspecting me. "He was attacked and did some wonderful moves. Trowa would be great in the show, Cathy."

"I suppose." She said softly. "Um, Shin? How did you meet this guy?" Catherine asked quietly as she took Shin by the arm and pulled him slightly away from Trowa, though they were still close enough that Trowa could hear what they were saying.

"In the city." Shin brushed a hand though his hair. "He was with some horrible fish killers, but I saw him do some really interesting things when he got in the middle of a fight. He's very strong and fast. I'm sure we could use him in the show. I'll put him in my own act."

"I don't know, Shin. I don't trust him." She cast another suspicious look at Trowa, not seeming to care whether he heard or not. "There's something wrong with him. No," She corrected herself. "Not wrong, but odd."

Shin waved her objection aside. "I'm sure you just have to get to know him. I like Trowa! He can use my cot, if he needs to. I don't think he likes being with those other guys very much." Shin sniffed at the thought of the 'fish killers'. "Where else could he go?"

"Shin, you're too trusting." Catherine shook her head at his attitude, though she smiled as if amused. This attitude of Shin's didn't seem to surprise her. "We don't know anything about him."

Shin, instead of answering, spoke to Trowa. "Do you want to stay here?"

Now there was the real question. Staying in a circus was a different sort of path than Trowa had considered, but it would be an unlikely place for Mayers to look for him. No one would ever expect him to be hiding in a circus of all places. "I would like to stay here."

"See?" Shin smiled at Catherine. "We can't make him leave if he wants to stay with us. That would be very rude."

Catherine sighed, shaking her head. "I'll humor you on this one, Shin, but we still have to convince the ringmaster that Trowa can work here. You know how hard-headed that man can be."

Hardheaded, it turned out, was a polite term for the sour faced, overbearing man. They brought Trowa before the ringmaster, a hard looking man with a whip in one hand and a dark beard. "I found him in the city," Shin repeated the story of how they'd met, just as he'd told Catherine, holding Trowa by the hand, as if he was afraid Trowa would run away.

"What business is that of mine?" The ringmaster asked gruffly as he examined Trowa. "I'm no charity worker and I take only those who can work for their keep."

Shin smiled. "Oh, he can work. I've all ready thought up an act for him. He can work with me and do the acrobatics."

"What's your name boy?" The ringmaster asked after a moment's consideration.

Trowa was silent, his face expressing very little, as was habit that time. He didn't have a name, not a real one.

"Well? Answer!"

"You can call me Trowa."

"Call you Trowa? Is that your name or not?"

"Does it matter?"

Shin, smiling at the answer, took a mask from the top of an abused looking trunk. The mask was quite creepy looking if one looked at it for too long. Two large stars where the eyes should be and a strangely wicked smile made the mask look unnatural for some reason. "Cathy, give me one of your knives." Shin said, holding a hand out to her.

With a puzzled look, Catherine pulled out one knife off where she kept about three of them sheathed on her left thigh and gave it to him.

After releasing Trowa for the first time since the ringmaster had entered the tent, Shin cut the mask exactly in half, right down the middle. He was, apparently, one of the circus' clowns and he just cut his prized mask in half. One half he handed Trowa and the other he kept for himself. "What do you say? Will you try clowning with me?"

Trowa agreed with a quiet nod of his head, taking the mask and holding it over the left side of his face before turning to look in a mirror propped up in a corner. Shin stood next to Trowa and looked in the mirror with him holding up the other half of the mask to his face.

The effect was, Trowa had to admit, interesting.

The ringmaster snapped at Shin before he left. "If he fouls up, Shin, it's on your head. You train him and make sure he isn't going to hurt himself or anyone else doing your routine. You're too advanced for just anyone to step right into the act. I'll not have him killing himself trying to do your stunts!"

Shin barely appeared to listen as he stared at their reflections in the mirror. "Perfect." Shin whispered when the ringmaster had left. "It's perfect. We'll be a hit, I just know it."

They stood like that for a few minutes until Catherine spoke up again. "That looks really creepy, guys. But, if you're both determined to do this, we'll have to make Trowa a costume for tonight." She wagged a finger at Trowa. "No fancy stuff tonight. You're just a beginner, no matter what Shin says. Tonight you keep it simple, tomorrow we'll take you on a run through of Shin's stunts with all the safety measures. If you do well, we'll reorganize the next performance."

Such precautions really weren't necessary, but Trowa kept his opinions to himself. Information was valuable, why just give it away?

"I'll make his just like mine." Shin announced, taking the mask away from his face. "An exact copy. Do you think you'll be ready for a show tomorrow if I show you tonight?"

Trowa nodded slowly. He felt very much at home in the mask. It seems right. The mask was like his name, just another disguise. Still, Trowa wondered how Shin would react if he knew Trowa's secret, that he was training to bring about war and that the circus was just a hiding spot.

The ringmaster didn't have to worry about Trowa. He'd done this sort of thing many times before, but not for fun. Four nights after Shin had brought Trowa to the circus, Trowa made his debut. In front of the L4 audience, the image of the both of them flying through the air on the trapeze, tumbling in acrobatics, and waving the crowd inside the big top was an instant success. The people were in love with the Twin Clowns, the new stage title Trowa and Shin used. Entertain instead of kill. It was an interesting change. A good change. Trowa found that he liked making people smile.

Over the next few weeks Trowa managed to prove Shin's faith in him was not misplaced. He was able to not only keep up with Shin's acrobatics, but also to show him some new tricks. With the both of them, they were able to do some of the more difficult tricks, such as the teeter-totter where one would stand on one end of the ten foot long teeter-totter and the other would jump down from a raised platform. This would send the first soaring into the sky, better able to do more impressive rolls and spins before landing perfectly.

To their fans they were known as Right Clown and Left Clown for the half-mask each wore covering the opposite sides of their faces. Both of them were thin, though Trowa was, perhaps, a bit taller than his new partner. For some reason the Twin Clowns were a huge success with the fans, so much that the ringmaster had been told numerous times that people came especially to see them. The ringmaster was pleased with the new addition to their circus and the money they were pulling in.

For their most popular act, Shin would run to Trowa in the center ring. The two would clasp hands and, since Shin was lighter than Trowa was, Trowa would toss him around, letting Shin flip in the air. Sometimes, Shin and Trowa would balance on large balls while juggling or other silly things, but all the things they did were skills that Trowa needed to practice for fighting. He doubted Shin would ever fight as Shin was the most gentle person Trowa had ever met, except for the time when he'd seen Shin go berserk when the goldfish had been killed.

The masks they wore were an interesting way to keep a little mystery so the audience would always wonder whom we really were, only ever showing off half a face and a little hair. The two of them dressed in identical costumes, long sleeved white shirts and immense, billowing pants, for the performance. The clothes were not what the ringmaster wanted them to wear, outfits that were designed to reveal them rather than conceal, but both Shin and Trowa were too modest to wear what the Ringmaster had given them. Besides which, Catherine had nearly bitten his head off when he'd presented them with the costumes.

"What? Are you turning this into some kind of sex show!" Catherine wasn't in the least bit afraid of the ringmaster and she'd thrown the costumes back in his face before either of the boys could touch them. "I won't have them parading around like that just so you can have people drooling over them!"

Shin and Trowa were pretty much stars of the circus along with Catherine, the knife thrower. She normally used Shin as a target, because with his unshakable faith, he never moved when the knives came flying at him. It was useful when Trowa came along, Catherine had once told Trowa, because when Shin was sick or just couldn't perform, Trowa was a pretty good target, too. She had excellent aim; Trowa had to give her that.

All in all, everyone was happy with the arrangement. Shin and Trowa were happy to perform together. Catherine was happy that Shin had a new friend and the ringmaster was happy with the money. All was not peaches and roses, though. After nearly two months of living and traveling with the circus, Trowa was woken in the middle of the night to Shin's screams as a nightmare took hold of him and wouldn't let go.

Shin-

Shin was swimming deep in the darkness of the sea as he usually did in his dreams. The sea wrapped her cool arms around him, filling his lungs with her salty being. Here, in the water, with light just barely filtering down through the depths, Shin felt totally at peace. It was as if he honestly belonged there and nowhere else, like finally coming home to a place you'd never been.

Shin knew he was dreaming. This was pretty much the same dream he had every night, the colorful tropical fish fading into the gleaming grays and browns of the northern sea's fish. At times, the water was almost black, shrouding him in the darkness, but then it would slowly change into the crystal clear, bright blue water of the tropics. Shin kicked, propelling himself forward, laughing as he saw a group of dolphins playing and the sharks hunting prey. He was so comfortable and relaxed, everything seemed natural. It was the way things were supposed to be. No more disorienting space travel or walking on the hard, unyielding ground. Here, in the sea, Shin felt completely free.

Everything changed suddenly and Shin felt a presence. Something he'd always known lurked at the back of mind was in the sea with him, but it made Shin feel uneasy. Whatever it was, it was big and powerful. It filled the whole sea with its presence. 'Where is it?' Shin looked around for the something he knew was close by. It might have helped if Shin knew what he was looking for, but he really had no idea. He only knew that it came from him, somehow, and he belonged with it. It was calling him, pulling him towards it and Shin followed the calling, though not without doubts. Down, to the bottom of the sea, it called him.

The darkness was growing, making it harder for Shin to see, but he knew it was there, waiting for him. Light from the surface shone down suddenly and Shin saw it. A suit of armor, pale blue and white, standing on the ocean floor with a yari (trident) in one hand and a bladed crescent on the helmet. The helmet of the yoroi started to move and the face-mask looked up at Shin. The yoroi pushed off from the sea floor and swam toward him. Shin's fear grew as the yoroi got closer and closer.

Shin tried to back away, frightened. What was this thing? He was stopped, however, when the yoroi raised its yari, pointing it at him. Something wrapped around Shin's wrists and ankles, binding him in place. It was seaweed, long strands of seaweed, holding him as if they were chains. The sea had betray him.

"Stay away." Shin tried to say. "Keep away from me, I don't want you!" The thing, of course, didn't listen and Shin still couldn't move.

It came close enough that Shin could now see the face behind the mask. Shin's own pale eyes looked back at him. Inhuman, cold eyes with no emotion at all. Not love or hate, simply there. It reached out a gauntlet hand toward him and Shin screamed with all his might.

End Dream-

Catherine-

Trowa was already awake when Shin's moaning and mumbling woke Catherine. "How long's he been like this?" They'd lived together since Trowa had joined the circus, all of three of them sharing a tent. There was limited space, after all. It was practical and, most importantly, safe. Shin trusted Trowa and that was good enough for Catherine. She hadn't once feared for her virtue with Trowa so close at night, when she was vulnerable. Even when she found out how often he stayed awake all night, she was still comfortable enough to sleep. There was just something very safe about Trowa. "Has he said anything?"

"A few moments and no." Trowa answered softly. He hadn't bothered to turn on the lights and sat in the darkness on his bed. His hands were folded neatly on his lap and he looked at Catherine with those lovely, sad eyes of his. "Nightmares?"

"He doesn't have them often." She looked at Shin writhe on his bed, his hands clenched so tightly on his blankets that his knuckles had turned white. Catherine ran a hand through her hair as she sat up and rubbed at her eyes to fully wake herself. She wasn't surprised by Trowa being awake. It wasn't the firs time she'd woken in the middle of the night to find him sitting there, staring into space with his mind a million miles away. Trowa was the lightest sleeper Catherine had ever met and could be woken by the sound of a mouse creeping across the floor. "Hasn't had a nightmare in a long time. Never one this…" She trailed away, not wanting to say what she was thinking. Violent. It was a violent nightmare. "Should we wake him?"

Trowa looked back at Shin, his long hair hiding his face for a moment. "I have heard that it is best to let a person ride out a nightmare, psychologically, speaking." Trowa was very intelligent, Catherine knew. He was always polite and soft-spoken, never wasting words without a reason. Catherine had the feeling that if he had some, Trowa would spend a good deal of his time immersed in books. More than once, Catherine had asked Trowa about his past. Of course they all knew Trowa had come to them from a group of mercenaries, Shin had proudly told everyone how he'd met Trowa. They didn't, however, know about Trowa's life before the mercenaries or what had brought him to work with the mercenaries he apparently disliked so much. Trowa was very good at keeping his secrets.

Shin began to mutter in his sleep. He didn't say anything, just low murmurs under his breath, but whatever was happening was making Shin more and more agitated and Catherine bit the inside of her cheek, worriedly.

"However," Trowa continued. "I see no point in letting Shin suffer."

"I agree." Catherine slid off her bed and leaned over Shin. The tent they all used was so small that their cots were only about two feet apart. Shin was in the middle between Catherine and Trowa was closest to the tent's flap. It was close, but comfortable living arrangements. Times were tight for the circus and everyone had to bunk up together, especially a newcomer like Trowa. "Shin? Shin! Are you all right?" Catherine didn't touch Shin, just spoke loudly. She'd heard stories of people who suffered heart attacks if they were woken too suddenly from nightmares and that was the last thing she wanted to deal with at that time of night.

Shin's eyes sprang open with a look of complete terror. "I…!" He was panting heavily and soaking with sweat. For a moment, he didn't seem to see Catherine or Trowa, he just stared straight up. "The sea…turned. Blue…the blue…yari…" His voice trailed away and he fell silent, worrying Catherine all the more.

"Shin, can you hear me?" She licked her lips nervously and wished that Trowa would say something.

Shin finally seemed to come to himself. He blinked a few times and then focused on Catherine. "Did I wake you? I'm sorry. I'm fine, really." A quick glance at Trowa made Shin squirm, guiltily. "Sorry, Trowa."

"You didn't wake me. We were worried about you."

Shin laughed, though it sounded weak and half-hearted. "You shouldn't worry. It was just a nightmare. I'm fine."

Catherine sat back on her heels and scowled. "Since when do you lie to me, Shin?" She hated lying more than anything else. A terrible habit and one that she didn't want her baby brother to take up. "Tell me the truth. What were you dreaming about? You aren't fine. Look at your hands, you're shaking and you were making enough noise to wake the dead."

"Sorry." Shin drew himself up in a tight ball, hugging his knees to his chest as he tried to calm himself.

Trowa had slowly backed away from Shin's cot after Shin had woken up, but that was just how Trowa was. As much as Catherine liked him, she'd realized quite a while ago that Trowa was not a touchy-feely sort of person. Trowa was good and kind with a heart of gold. He was compassionate and gentle, but he wasn't the type of person to give spontaneous hugs. That didn't matter. The fact that Trowa had come to check on Shin was enough. Besides, if he wanted hugs, that was what Cathrine was for and she did her duty, moving sit next to Shin and putting her arm around his shoulders when he slowly sat up. "Tell us what it was about."

Shin flushed dark red and looked down at his lap, ashamed. Still, what teenage boy wouldn't be embarrassed about having a nightmare and having his big sister hugging him to make him feel better? Especially in front of a friend. He battled with himself before giving in and admitting, "I was swimming. But this time it was different. There was something looking for me."

Catherine frowned and Trowa remained as stone-faced as ever, standing beside his cot. "I thought you liked your dreams of swimming. What was looking for you?"

"I'm not sure what it was. It was some kind of yori (armor) with a yari (trident). It was alive, Cathy. It was me! It's going to find me, Cathy." Shin started to rock back and forth and hunched further in over himself. "It's going to find me and I won't be able to stop it! It'll never let me go!"

Watching Shin was hard as he rocked back and forth, so obviously terrified of nothing more than a dream. It wasn't right. Shin was not the sort to be so frightened of a mere dream and he'd had plenty of nightmares before. Shin was just far too sensible to be unnerved by something like this.

Catherine pursed her lips together and weighted her options. There really weren't many. It was just a dream and Shin would calm down. 'In a few minutes, he'll be embarrassed and begging us to go back to bed and forget about it. It's probably nothing.' Still, it might be something. Shin had always loved the sea and would take any excuse he could find to get near Earth with it's wide, rolling oceans. If he was frightened of the sea, for whatever reason, it could do great damage to him. 'He'll be unhappy and I can't have that.' As her only family, Shin's happiness was of paramount importance to Catherine. "I'm going to talk to the ringmaster." Catherine announced abruptly, standing up. "Trowa, stay with Shin, please."

Trowa nodded and sat where she'd just gotten up from. It was one very good point in Trowa's favor. He knew when things were important and when not to argue. Trowa was sensible. In just the few weeks they'd known him, Catherine had to admit that she'd never met anyone quiet so rational. Trowa never got overly emotional about anything and always dealt with what life gave him clear headed and with an even temper.

"Where are you going?" Shin asked nervously.

Catherine gave him a reassuring smile. "Just for a breath of air. I won't be long." She left the tent and once outside, she took a deep breath of the stale, tasteless air of the colony. It was warm, almost too warm and the stars were too close. From the colony, Catherine could look up and see not only the distant sun, but also Earth and the moon circling it.

"Your brother needs your help."

Catherine swung around and found herself facing one of the oddest people she'd ever met and that was saying something considering that she'd lived most of her life in a circus. He was slightly built and dressed as a monk. How old he was, Catherine really couldn't say as his face was shadowed by a low hat woven out of reeds. In one hand he held a staff that was taller than he was with jangling rings held on the ornate top. With that thing, Catherine should have heard him coming a mile away. "What do you know about my brother?"

"I know Suiko has called to him and he is frightened. You must help him get back to Earth, where his doom awaits."

"Doom?" Catherine's eyes widened.

"Fate, if you prefer. He must go back to Earth."

"It was just a nightmare."

"Do you believe that?"

"Who are you?" She hadn't seen him before and people didn't just go wandering around the fairgrounds this time of night. Besides, he wasn't even dressed like a colonist. Still…there was something peaceful about him. "You shouldn't be here."

"Shin is in danger if he stays here. Suiko calls to him and he must answer." The monk held out his staff and aimed the top of it at Catherine. "Forgive me, but you are the only one who can help him and, thus, help us all. Shin must go to Earth."

There was a feeling of warmth around Catherine's eyes and she rubbed them. 'What am I doing just standing around here?' With new vigor, Catherine set off to the ringmaster's tent. It was obvious what she had to do and she kicked herself for not thinking of it sooner. Shin had to go to Earth. It was the only way to rid him of his nightmares.

Most people would think that what she was about to do would be extreme, that she was risking a lot just over a nightmare. Catherine didn't care what other people thought, for the most part. She cared about Shin and something was striking her wrong about this whole nightmare. It wasn't anything in particular, just something…wrong. Shin would have to go to Earth, to the sea. Again, she didn't know how she knew this, but she knew it as surely as she knew her own name. Catherine didn't stop walking until she came to the ringmaster's tent and cautiously slapped her hand against the flap.

From inside the tent a man's sleepy voice mumbled, "What is it?" Ringmaster didn't like being woken up in the middle of the night and Catherine knew he wasn't going to take this well.

"It's Catherine, sir. I need to talk to you about Shin."

"Come in, girl." He grumbled and Catherine walked in just as he was lighting a candle. "Well, what is it? Hope you've got a good reason for a late night visit."

Catherine took a deep breath. "We have to go to Earth."

"What? We're not going to Earth."

"No. Not we as in the circus. I mean we as in Shin, Trowa, and myself. We have to go to Earth so Shin can see the ocean."

Ringmaster groaned angrily and rubbed both hands over his face. "Girl, if this is another attempt to let that brother of yours to go swimming, forget about it! You have some nerve waking me up for that! How dare you try to interfere with circus business just for his pleasure! We're going to L1 in two months and you can find a swimming pool at one of the swankier hotels."

"You don't understand. It's not for pleasure. Shin's sick and he needs to see the ocean." Alright, maybe 'sick' was a bit of an exaggeration and Catherine didn't exactly KNOW that Shin had to go to the ocean, but she did have a very strong feeling about it.

"Oh?" Ringmaster crossed his arms over his chest. "What makes you think that? Have you become a doctor?"

This would be the hard part, Catherine knew. Convincing ringmaster that Shin wasn't just having nightmares when Catherine wasn't sure of it herself. "He's not physically sick, sir, but if you could see him now you'd understand. He's just had a horrible nightmare of something chasing him through the ocean and now he's so scared that something's going to catch him."

Ringmaster sneered. "He had a nightmare? Is that what has you so worried? Gods, girl..."

"No!" Catherine clenched her fists at her sides. "You don't understand how important this is! Shin can't do any of his work in the state he's in. He has a tendency to have the same dream many times over, I told you that before, and he'll have this one again tomorrow night. Then the night after and the night after that. It'll go on and on and he won't be any state to sell balloons let alone do the high flying acts with Trowa. If this continues, I'm afraid he's going to get really sick and I won't let that happen."

Ringmaster rubbed his tired eyes. "Look, Catherine, I'll call a doctor in the morning and have them take a look at him. There's probably something very natural at the bottom of all this."

Catherine glared and crossed her arms over her chest. "If he doesn't get better within the week, you are going to lose three of your people."

"What!" She now had ringmaster's full attention again.

"I told you. I have enough money saved up for Shin, Trowa, and myself. We ARE going. If we can, we'll come back, but we are going."

"It can't be that bad!"

"Not now, it isn't, but Shin is sensitive and easily influenced. I won't let him become afraid of the sea he loves. I'll give this one week, but if it continues after that, we are going to Earth." With that she turned on her heel and marched out, back to find Shin had fallen back asleep with Trowa rubbing his back soothingly.

Catherine and Trowa looked at each other. "This is not like him." Trowa said quietly.

"Yeah." Catherine agreed. "I just told ringmaster if Shin keeps having nightmares like this, we're all leaving for Earth." Then she gave him a sheepish smile. "I hope you don't mind me speaking for you."

"No." Trowa replied. "I think it would be best for Shin if we did go to Earth."

It was five days later and four nights of Shin waking up screaming with the same nightmare that Catherine was looking through the mail, and stopped on a familiar handwriting. It was sloppy and looked as if someone was rushing to get though it. She smiled fondly and called out. "Shin! There's a letter from Xiu!"

"He says he's got a cousin visiting from one of the colonies, someone named Chang Wufei. He's been there a while now, from the postmark." Shin told her as he read through the letter. Then a bright smile lit his weary face. "He says Mama Fan wants to know when we're coming for a visit."

Catherine, noticing ringmaster in the doorway and then looking back at Shin's tired, pale face. He hadn't been sleeping again and she'd found this morning a bottle of pills that were supposed to make you stay awake longer. "In two days." She announced, abruptly.

Shin looked up from his letter in surprise. "What?"

"I have the money and we can all go. You do want to see Xiu and mama Fan again, don't you?"

Ringmaster, just out of sight of Shin, turned with a sour expression and stalked away.

A day later-

"Well, I hope you're all satisfied." Ringmaster grumbled at the three younger people as they packed. "We're giving up a very profitable tour just so you can go swimming!"

The perpetually grumpy ringmaster had given in to Catherine's ultimatum, and decided that a trip to Earth instead of one of the colonies he'd been planning to visit was better than losing his two best acts. Catherine was not a liar and if she said she'd leave, taking Shin and Trowa with her, then Ringmaster had to believe her. He couldn't be sure that they'd come back after they'd left.

Shin looked away guiltily as he packed his few belongings. "I'm sorry about this." He muttered, but Catherine put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's not your fault, Shin." She told him reassuringly before turning her glare on the Ringmaster. "Leave him alone. I'm not forcing you to come with us. It's your own choice."

Ringmaster sighed and threw up his hands in defeat. He just couldn't argue logic with a protective big sister. It wasn't just Catherine, though, or even Trowa, but the whole Circus was behind Shin. Everyone loved him and would do anything for him, so it would be a rebellion if he didn't get Shin to Earth and at least try to get his mind away from the nightmares. If nothing else, Shin was falling apart in the ring now, leaving it to Trowa to do all the fancy, high flying moves. Seeing as how they were still billed as the Twin Clowns, one just wasn't good enough in the eyes of the audience, so they were starting to complain.

But, in his heart, even Ringmaster knew he should lay off Shin for a while. The boy was pale and worn looking from lack of sleep with blood shot eyes. Shin was sick, Ringmaster was sure of that now, and if nothing else, they would have to go to Earth to get a decent doctor to heal him. Ringmaster was very proud of the fact that he took care of his people, no one here ever had to worry about an injury or sickness, not if Ringmaster could afford the best. He turned and walked back to the big top to supervise the dismantling of the circus tent. They would be leaving today and arrive on Earth probably in two weeks.

Ringmaster never saw the man watching this scene from behind the moving crates. The man watched it all, focusing on Trowa who was helping to pack and letting Catherine tease him with a clown's half mask, with a star over the eye and a large red mouth. The man dashed away.

In a tavern-

Mayers was drinking heavily, not an unusual state for him, when one of his men ran into the tavern. "I found him, boss! I've seen Trowa." The man nearly shouted. It really didn't matter if anyone heard, this was not the most law-abiding place in the universe.

Mayers put his tankard down hard, sloshing the ale everywhere. "What!" He demanded roughly. "Where the Hell is that kid!" He had been searching for Trowa for weeks now, the embarrassment of having a child beat him was too much for him reputation to bear. Not to mention that other kid who'd been with Trowa at the time. Mayers simply had to find Trowa and show him what happened when you left his mercenaries.

"In the circus, if you'd believe it. He's one of those Twin Clowns that everyone's talking about these days. I saw him put on the mask, a half mask with a star over one eye. I heard them talking and they're going to Earth, soon."

Mayers sat back and smiled at the news. Revenge wouldn't be difficult, then.

To be continued.. 


	4. Imperfect Soldier

Chapter 4: Imperfect Soldier

Seiji-

He sat on the bed, naked and cold, staring straight ahead when the white coated doctor ran his fingers up and down his spine. The walls were white. No pictures, no color. Though the room was kept warm, the air was cold, sterile, and tasted of nothing. It was lifeless…stale. Just like the boy.

"Do you feel pain?"

"I feel nothing."

"Good. Good." The doctor moved around the bed and shone a light in the patient's single eye. "Look left. Now right."

It was all so tedious. The same thing every night. Same white haired doctor, same questions, same routine. Just once, he wished they would sent a different doctor to examine him. It wasn't as if he was often allowed outside his room, they should let him see a few different faces once in a while. He didn't say anything, though. He'd learned long ago not to share his opinions or thoughts. It was wasteful and, often, painful. They didn't want to hear what he thought or what he wanted. All he had to do was keep silent and do what he was told and they'd leave him alone, for the most part.

The room he'd spent the past many years in was small and spartan. The walls were starkly white and the floor was cold metal. Even the bed was nothing more than a cot with a worn mattress and a thin blanket. He knew every inch of the room. Every bolt and every seam in the walls. He knew the sound of the air recycling system as if it were his mother's heartbeat. Most of all, he knew the door. It was heavy and locked only from the outside. There was a small slot in the door that could be opened from the outside so whoever wanted to could look in on him at any time.

Privacy was not one of his luxuries.

As a matter of fact, he had few luxuries. He couldn't honestly say he had none. After all, they allowed him his food on a tray. He now had socks and the blanket on his bed was washed every week. There used to be a time, not long ago, when he didn't even have that much.

Maybe it was only to be expected that he would be so familiar with it, after all, he's spent his whole life in that room. Well…not quite his whole life. There had been a time before the room. A time of fresh air and laughter. A long ago time.

"Hold out your arm, Hiro. How does your eye feel?"

He did it without complaint or comment when the needle was sunk into his arm and the sample of blood withdrawn. Again, it was just routine. The needle hurt, but he didn't flinch. Pain was only temporary. It would be forgotten in a moment. "I feel no discomfort." The missing eye hadn't bothered him in a very long time.

His name wasn't Hiro, but he'd long since stopped objecting to being address by it. There was no point.

"There. You can put your arm down, now."

Again, he complied and stood waiting for the next order.

"Your hair needs trimming. Better yet, it needs shaving off."

Of course it did. He wasn't allowed to have anything sharp that he could use to cut it with and it wasn't often that anyone could be bothered do it. His hair hadn't been cut in years and, as a result, hung down well passed his shoulder blades in shaggy, tangled knots. No hairbrush. No shampoo. Those luxuries he was not allowed. The greasy locks were a nuisance and did no good. Frankly, he'd be pleased if they did shave it off.

The doctor reached over his shoulder and grabbed a handful of the long, golden hair. "Disgusting. We'll shave it in the morning. For now…" He took a pair of long silver scissors out of his kit and cut off a few feet. "It's not perfect, but it'll do till we can get the razor and shave off the rest. Grows so quickly." The doctor dropped the cut hair on the floor, slipped his scissors back into his kit and left the little room with the sample of blood he'd come for. The guard at the door closed the door and he heard the lock slide into place and, once more, he was alone.

'Date. My name's Date. Date Seiji.' It seemed important to him that he remember his name, if nothing else. They could call him Hiro. They could call him whatever they liked, but he was Date Seiji. Long ago, when he had first been brought to this place, he argued with them about his name, but it had never done any good. Seiji had come to realize that the only one who cared about his name was himself. So he stopped arguing and started answering to Hiro.

Seiji put a hand to his hair. It fell to just above his shoulder, but still wasn't short enough. A shave would be nice. More comfortable. Maybe the itching on his head would stop. Was it fleas or lice? Seemed hard to imagine that even those tiny creatures could find a way into the cell. Not that anyone cared. The parasites wouldn't kill him and so long as he was alive they could use him. They didn't think minor things like general health were important.

Not that Seiji cared what THEY thought, anyway. THEY were the enemy. But he had played along with what they wanted and he had become what they had wanted him to become. The perfect soldier. Well, he had tried to become what they'd wanted. It was working, too, until his eye had been taken from him.

Seiji went and lay down on the mattress pushed up against the far wall. He had nothing better to do until they came to retrieve him for training. However long that might take, hours, days, or weeks. Might as well sleep or at least rest.

Dream-

The forest was green and green was life. Life all around him, warm life. He could feel the pulse of life pressing around him like a heavy blanket on a cold winter's night. It was comfortable and familiar and Seiji didn't want to move. If he stayed still enough and tried not to breathe, maybe everything would stay like this. He felt safe. He felt as if someone were holding him and that it was their heartbeat he was hearing so clearly.

There were trees all around. Dark trunks and leaves a brighter green than any he could remember with the sunlight shining through them, almost making the leaves glow. The fallen leaves under his feet crunched loudly when Seiji took a step. The sky was blue as…as…

'I've never seen anything like it.'

Or maybe he had. Once, as a child, he'd seen the blue sky of Earth dotted with clouds. Hadn't he gone to the beach once with sissy? The sky had been unreal and filled with ivory white, screaming gulls. The sand was hot under his bare feet.

What a long time ago…

There were other things in the forest, not just the trees and the sky and the dry leaves underfoot. Seiji knew there were animals in the forest. He could feel them, for lack of a better word. Tiny little lives all existing within the pulse of the forest. Fragile and delicate lives. They buzzed around, brushing against his skin with a pleasant tickle.

Best of all, the sun was warm on Seiji's face. He opened his eyes at last and only then realized that his eyes had been closed. So how had he known that the sky was so bright or the leaves so green? Now he could see and it was all just as he knew it was. The blue sky and green leaves. There were birds singing and flying in the sky, chipmunks running up the trees and other, larger animals peacefully grazing or walking about. Seiji turned around in a circle hungry to savor all that he saw. He'd turned around once before he saw it.

It was standing as still as a statue, looking at him. A suit of ancient-looking, green yoroi. It had a horned helmet and a huge sword in its hands. Behind the gray face-mask, there was no face, just emptiness. Seiji stepped toward it, curious. He'd never seen anything like the suit of armor. Lessons had taught him that samurai armor was brightly colored, but not like this. Primary green and bright white metal were not samurai armor.

"We must be joined." The voice, Seiji's voice, came from the facemask. "We must be joined." The forest went dark, as the armor spoke again, but not like nightfall. It was complete darkness, no moon or stars, just the yoroi emitting a green glow. "We are one. We are Korin!"

He was safe, suddenly, safe and strong. No one could hurt me and there was no one stronger. How very odd, since darkness was Seiji's worst fear. He walked closer to the yoroi and it mirrored his movements, stepping where he stepped and when Seiji raised a hand towards it, it raised its metal encased hand. Their fingertips touched and Seiji was home. He knew unquestioningly that he had to be with the yoroi, no matter what it cost.

'This is me. This is who I am. Who I was always meant to be.'

End Dream-

Seiji woke, as always, in the darkness of his cell. The yoroi was gone as was the feeling of safety and comfort. The ventilators wheezed with their constant use and no other sound made its way into the six-foot by six-foot room, painted in stark white. He woke with the knowledge of what he had to do.

It was time to go home.

Seiji stood up and dressed himself in the only clothes he had - the black body suit they used for his gundam training, before laying down on the floor to look under the door that led to the outside. He could see only one pair of feet and heard no talking, so only one was on guard tonight.

He made a mistake, that one guard. He must have become complacent about Seiji had left the door of his quarters unlocked. After all, Seiji had been there for years and had not tried to escape since just before he had turned seven. Seeing his opportunity to escape Seiji had to take it, with the memory of the yoroi still fresh in his mind.

The man was barely older than Seiji was and had turned his back to the cell's door when Seiji looked out opening it only slightly. It was too good to pass up. Seiji smashed his fist against the back of the guard's head, sending him flying into the opposite wall before he slumped limply to the floor. Seiji then took the man's gun, slipped it into his boot, and ran. The cameras would notice Seiji in very few seconds, but ironically, Seiji's training had given him the skills to elude the cameras. Seiji made it to the hanger where the two Gundams, Wing Zero and Halo Light, were kept quite easily, but this was another problem. The hanger was heavily guarded with a lot of people as witnesses.

Seiji would need the gun from the guard.

Freedom was within his reach and Seiji was not going to let it go just because he don't like guns. The people fell like puppets whose strings had just been cut and Seiji tried not to look at them when he ran through the hanger to Halo Light. He didn't want to kill. He really didn't want to do it, but sometimes it was necessary.

Halo Light was the Gundam that had been intended for Seiji before the incident, so Seiji was well acquainted with it. Wing Zero was the newer, more advanced Gundam, but Halo Light was still operational, even if attention was being focused on Wing Zero. Dr. J had not wasted time on the advanced training me when it was thought Seiji wouldn't be needed in battle. Seiji was, after all, just a back-up pilot in case anything should happen to Heero.

Seiji climbed quickly into the cockpit of Halo Light, strapping himself in as he'd done hundreds of times before. He would have to rely on the computers, though, as his lack of depth perception would be dangerous while piloting the Gundam. Seiji powered up, knowing that he would have only seconds before the other soldiers would be alerted. One of the first things Seiji did was to turn on the radio, to listen in to whatever was going on.

Immediately, he heard over the radio, "Hiro's escaped, he's gotten to Halo Light! Deploy Heero! I repeat, deploy Heero!"

'He's working for them? Damn!' Seiji had wanted to take Heero with him. It wouldn't have been easily, but he could use Halo Light to rescue Heero and bring him back to Earth. What was life worth without his friend, after all? He'd been yearning for Heero ever since they'd been separated. If Heero was working for Doctor J, then it was pointless. He'd end up killing Seiji if he saw him. 'Strange, I wouldn't have thought him so willing after that night…' Oh, well, if that's Heero's choice, he would just have to live with it. Seiji pushed aside the pain to deal with it later. 'So will I.'

Seiji blasted free of the colony's hidden base where the Gundams and he had been created and felt nothing. Seiji knew that he would not go back to the slavery, but he felt nothing. He wasn't happy or sad or even scared. Perhaps that wasn't so surprising. It was how he had been trained, after all. No fear. No joy. Simply get the job done. The mission was all that mattered. They had designed Seiji to take orders, but he had no master. Seiji had always been very firm on that point. 'I give my obedience to no one! I know I have all the strength I need to do this.'

Still, as Seiji flew toward Earth, his target, he couldn't help but think of Heero. He hadn't seen Heero since they were seven, but still remembered him clearly. They were to have been partners and if they'd left Seiji with Heero, Seiji knew that he might not have run away. After the incident where Seiji had been blinded in his left eye it was decided that he was not acceptable as a pilot. Seiji was judged a crippled and worthless to Doctor J's plan. Heero, Seiji had been told, had gone on to the advanced training, alone, while Seiji had been basically locked up and left alone for years.

Heero had been Seiji's friend, the only friend Seiji could remember having.

The flight to Earth was stressful. They would be sending someone after Seiji, which was only logical. Seiji knew where they were based and he knew most of their secrets. He was far too dangerous to be allowed to live if they couldn't control him. They would have to kill him. Seiji was lucky when he managed to make it to Earth without being recaptured or destroyed. When he saw Earth again for the first time in many years, his breath was taken away, if only for a moment. Beautiful blues and greens all swirling together under a light cover of white clouds.

Once Seiji had landed in a large forest on Earth, the side of a large mountain. The landing was rough, but better than Seiji had expected considering that Halo Light didn't have daily inspections and repairs. Still in the cockpit of the ship, he looked at the large red self-destruct button. It was there in case of a failed mission and was to be used to kill the pilot of the Gundam and get rid of all evidence. Pity for them that they had trained Seiji so well and, yet, so poorly.

It was easy to rewire the self-destruct to activate at a preset time. Seiji had plenty of time to get out of the suit and get to a safe distance. The machine exploded magnificently, but Seiji didn't die. Even as he watched the magnificent explosion and watched the brightly glowing pieces of Halo Light rain down around him, Seiji did not smile. Emotions are for the weak and he wouldn't allow himself to be weak.

'I am Date Seiji. I am strong.'

Of course, now Seiji was alone in the wilderness and had nowhere to go. He wasn't even sure he was anywhere near Japan let along Sendai. Was there even a family to go back to? Seiji had been gone so long, they probably wouldn't even remember him. If they did remember him, they wouldn't recognize him. Would they even want him?

Seiji started walking, just wanting to get away from the wreckage before anyone could come to investigate. Logically, they would find the wreckage and assume that Seiji had killed himself when he'd reached Earth, or that something had just gone wrong. It might not work that way, however, so Seiji had to get away.

Seiji walked for hours, but thanks to his training, it really didn't affect him. Seiji stopped by a river for a drink of water when he realized someone was standing behind him. Using sharp reflexes, Seiji turned with his hands raised defensively, ready to fight. The gun is still at his side, but Seiji still hate the thing. Some had once told Seiji that guns were crutches for those unable to fight like true warriors. That person had vanished shortly afterwards..

The person behind Seiji didn't seem like a threat. His long black hair was un-kept and shaggy, hanging in his eyes and his smile was that of an innocent child. He was dressed in a long, brightly colored kimono and had sandals on his feet.

"Hello." The boy, not seeming to care about what Seiji must be doing in the middle of a forest, was cheerful and pleasant. "I heard the noise and came to see if everything was all right. Ah! I forgot. Sorry. I'm Sanada Ryou." His voice was, Seiji couldn't help but notice, a pleasant kind of a purr deep in his throat. Seiji had never realized that a person could have a pleasing voice, but he did like Ryou's voice.

Ryou's bright blue eyes shifted to the side, where a large white tiger emerged from the foliage with another boy at its side and then a second tiger, this one deep black with gray stripes. This new boy was also dressed in a kimono, though his was of solid black, but he also had the longest braid Seiji had ever seen. The second boy smiled brightly, though he didn't manage to look so innocent as Ryou did. His smile was slightly devious and calculating, as if his mind held many secrets he really wanted to tell, but he knew he wasn't supposed to.

The new boy turned a cheery smile to me before addressing his friend, Ryou. "Hey, who's he?"

Ryou shrugged. "I don't know yet. This is Duo, my brother." He told Seiji, indicating the newcomer. "And this is Byakuen and Kokuen-Oh, our friends." Ryou put a hand on the head of the large tiger that, Seiji thought, was examining him, while Duo ran his hands through the black fur of Kokuen-Oh.

"How long have you been here?" Duo asked. "Was that your...your thing that made the thunder noise. I found a lot of metal stuff out there." He pointed to where Seiji had left the remains of his ship, but didn't stop talking. "I've never seen anything like it. Where do you come from? Ryou and I were just out here..." Duo stopped when Ryou elbowed him in the ribs and gave him a warning look. "Oh." Duo blushed sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "Er...we were just out walking. So, what brings you out here to the mountains?"

Seiji looked away from Duo back to Ryou. The boy seemed familiar and Seiji could feel a tickle at the back of his mind, telling him that he should know Ryou. Ryou's skin was dark and his eyes are a bright blue, piercing and clear. Seiji didn't know him, but felt like he should. Seiji liked looking at him. 'Odd. I can't remember liking something before.'

Duo and Ryou do not look like brothers, if Seiji's memory served, brothers should look alike. Ryou was dark skinned with beautiful almond shaped eyes whereas Duo has far paler skin and large round eyes, a European. Are they lying or is this some trap? 'I hope I don't have to kill them.'

"We've never seen anyone else out here except our other brothers or our sister. Would you like to come to our home?" Ryou spoke quickly, a puppy dog smile on his face.

The tiger, Byakuen, purred happily and looked at Seiji with large brown eyes, not hesitating to sniff his hand and rub against his leg. It grumbled, walking to Ryou who, after kneeling next to it, made a noise suspiciously like a purr and hugged the animal happily, even nuzzling it. It was almost as if they were talking.

"Byakuen likes you." Ryou looked up at Seiji. "So, what do you say? Will you come home with us? I'm sure our brothers will like you. I almost feel like I met you before."

Seiji shook his head again. Too dangerous to hang around here where people were sure to come investigating soon and Seiji wanted them to think he had died in the explosion so they wouldn't come after him again.

"You sure don't talk much, do you?" Duo asked.

Seiji had no reason to speak.

Ryou looked disappointed, but let it go. "Oh, well. Next time you come to this part of the forest, stop by and we'll go hunting together. All right?" Ryou and Duo started back into the thick trees and Seiji heard Ryou say, "Good job, Duo-chan, you almost told on us. Aniki (big brother) wouldn't have been happy."

"You're one to talk." Duo shot back, still sounding happy. "You invited him home! What do you think Rajura-niisan would have said about that?" Their voices died away and Seiji was alone again.

Alone.

It was for the best. So why was Seiji so sad? 'Foolish!' Seiji had nothing to feel sad about what. Sending Ryou and Duo away has saved them in case Doctor J sent people to investigate what had happened to him and Halo Light. They might have been killed if they'd stayed near the destroyed ship. Seiji had plenty of other things to do. The yoroi in his dream from so long ago was still fresh in his mind. He had to find the green armor. He had to find my family.

Several days later-

Sendai was very different from what Seiji imagined. Still, he had very little to compare it against. The streets were, as most cities seemed to be, full of people, though here there seemed to be more trees and larger gardens here. Seiji remember very little of this place, he had only been six when he'd was Doctor J had taken him, after all.

Seiji remembered the girl with long dark hair, his sister, though Seiji couldn't recall her name. He remembered her smile and her eyes were always so bright. No other memories were solid, just fleeting pictures and feelings. Seiji thought he could remember a woman with blonde hair, like his. A woman who was comfort and love. A man, dark haired like Seiji'ssister, who was protection and strength, was the next memory fragment. Seiji wasn't sure who they were, but the woman was most likely his mother, as the hair was so similar. If he could just remember what their faces looked like, he was sure he'd remember them completely.

More memories, as Seiji walk through Sendai, started to fall into place, like pieces of a puzzle. A river here, and the small store on the street corner. He eventually walked down a street opposite of an elementary school with small children laughing and playing on the playground or waiting of the sidewalk for parents.

Seiji stopped walking and stared at the children, trying to take it all in. They looked so happy and carefree.

On the street corner just outside the school there was a little boy, perhaps six or seven, waiting with a school bag slung over his shoulder. Seiji could remember standing on that same street corner. He had been six when Doctor J's white van had pulled up to the corner.

The terror Seiji had felt all those years ago came flood back and his breath caught in his throat. It was too clear. Too real. His heart was racing wildly. He could hear his blood racing in his veins.

The door of the white van swung open and the leering, half-mechanical face of Doctor J loomed over Seiji. The man reached out with a metal hand, the gears whirring and spinning when the claws that served as fingers opened and seized Seiji by the arm. He was jerked forward, right off his feet, and dragged into the van before he could even open his mouth to scream.

Never go with strangers, sissy had always told Seiji. Don't get in a car with strangers.

Seiji's heart was beating so hard, he could hear it. Fear. He hadn't felt such overpowering fear in a very long time. He couldn't move.

A white car pulled up to the corner and Seiji felt his stop. Illogical, that would have been coronary failure and he would have been in more pain, surely. Still…he couldn't feel his heart beat. He couldn't breathe.

The child was going to be taken, dragged kicking and screaming into that car and Seiji couldn't make himself move to help. He had an irrational fear, completely impossible, that it was Doctor J inside that white car. If he were to try to help, Doctor J would have him again.

The boy smiled when the door of the car opened and happily rushed forward. A woman opened the door of the car and the boy cried, "Kaasan! (mom!)" and jumped in with her. The two hugged and drove away., completely unaware of the relief their reunion had given Seiji.

Seiji felt himself release the breath he'd been holding. Seiji slowed his heart rate, willing it to a more comfortable level. The boy was safe and history was not repeating itself. Doctor J was not around. Not yet.

Turning his mind to more logical matters, Seiji reasoned that if this was where he'd been taken by Doctor J, then he must be close to his home. Sissy was supposed to have come to walk him home after school. She'd promised that she would come for him if he'd wait.

Seiji waited. He was patient until the schoolyard was empty and the children had gone home. Then he crossed the street and found the spot where his sissy had told him to wait. He stood there for a moment in the fading sunlight and just waited. No one came.

'Of course she didn't come. Stupid. That was years ago. Childish.'

Seiji berated himself for even thinking that she would come for him and briskly set off in the direction he believed his family's home to be in.

Seiji didn't notice a young woman with short black hair turn the corner just after he'd left. She walked to the spot where Seiji had been standing only moment ago and stared at the ground. "Little brother…" She'd been coming to this spot for years. Never on any particular day, but whenever she could. As if there was any hope that Seiji would come home after all this time.

The path home was not difficult to find. Though the back streets and across only two main streets. The large building was up on the hill, just as Seiji remembered it, although the prominent sign of the dojo was in sore need of repair.

DATE DOJO-ALL STUDENTS WELCOME.

'Date. That's my name. Date Seiji.' Perhaps this was where he belonged. The sign was hanging by one nail and near to falling down, its paint faded with weather and in sore need of a paint job. The grass of the lawn was monstrously overgrown, but Seiji waded through it to the door of the dojo.

The rest of the dojo was in as bad disrepair as the sign out front, almost to the point of falling apart. The house looked decent, though the garden Seiji remembered being full of flowers and life, was dull as if no one had cared for it in many years. Weeds had fully taken over, drowning all the once carefully tended flowers and the little water garden.

Seiji walked into the dojo first, instead of the house. It just seemed right. The dojo was a large empty room, much like the training room Doctor J had used for him, though the wooden floor and walls made this room seem more comfortable. There were pictures on the walls, paintings and drawings of men that looked like they were centuries old. There were cobwebs everywhere and dust filled the air almost the point of choking Seiji. He could almost see a man in the large, empty room. The man was only in his memory, not in the dusty, dark hall with cobwebs in the corners. The man was showing Seiji moves and correct ways to move his body to fight. He was strong and so kind. Seiji remembered he had always wanted to be just like the man.

"Who the hell are you?" A woman's voice snapped from behind Seiji. He almost went for his gun, but stopped himself. Seiji didn't like guns. The woman's voice was familiar, though slightly different. Seiji turned slowly, thinking that this was probably an attack. She was most likely an enemy Seiji would have to kill.

The woman was small, very slightly built with short hair and stood with her hands on her hips. No weapon and Seiji was glad for that. No weapon meant that she wasn't an enemy and he probably won't have to kill her, now. She walked further into the neglected dojo, letting Seiji see her better and vice versa.

'Her face! I know her!'

"Seiji?" The woman sounded as amazed as Seiji felt. Her hair was cut much shorter than Seiji remembered it. Her large eyes were even wide with disbelieve as she stared at him. "Sei-chan, is that really you?" She knew him. Recognized him. To be remembered was a miracle and for the first time in years. Seiji was happy.

Seiji nodded and opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He hadn't spoken in so long. What could he say now?

The dilemma was taken away when the woman rushed to Seiji, her arms enfolding him in a tight hug, pressing her cheek against his chest. "Oh, Seiji! I've all missed you so much! Thank God you're home! I can't believe you're alive!" She was crying now and a name is starting to form in Seiji's mind.

"Lu...Luc?" It was not her name, Seiji remembered, but her nickname. Luc, short of Lucrecia. The one she always wanted Seiji to call her. 'My sister.'

She looked up at Seiji and he wondered how she had gotten so small? He remembered looking up at her. "No one's called me Luc since you went missing, Sei-chan. Everyone calls me Noin, now." Noin was her middle name. Date Noin Lucrecia. Luc raised a hand and touch his dirty, tangled hair. "You can call me Luc. That's fine. Just fine. Do you remember me, Sei-chan? Do you remember anything at all?" Her eyes were worried as she wiped the tears from her face and then touched the side of Seiji's face gently. "We waited and waited for you. Mom and dad searched for everywhere. The police searched for months, but there was never any trace. What happened to you? Where did you go?"

Seiji just looked at her. He don't know how to explain what happened. How could he tell her how afraid he'd been? How desperately he'd wanted to go home? How could he tell her how betrayed he'd felt when mommy and daddy hadn't come to save him? She wouldn't understand.

Luc looks so small now, with her hair cut sharply above her ears and a part of it, like Seiji's, falling over one of her eyes. They stayed like that for a while until Luc shook her head, getting a hold of herself. "What am I thinking, keeping you out here. Come inside the house and rest. Look at you. You must be exhausted. Looks like you just hiked across half the planet." She took Seiji by the hand and gently encouraged him into the main house. "I don't live here anymore, Seiji, I'm just here seeing that the house is all right. I come by when my work allows it. It's a bit dusty and a real mess." She paused when they reached the door of the house and bit her lip, thinking. When she spoke, her voice was hesitant and soft. " Will you tell me where you've been all this time?"

"Too dangerous." Seiji really shouldn't tell her anything. If Doctor J were to find out that someone knew about what had happened to Seiji, he was sure to send people after her and Seiji wasn't about to endanger Luc. He could live with her curiosity. He couldn't live with her death.

Luc was curious, but she didn't press Seiji to answer and for that Seiji was grateful. He didn't want to upset her by refusing to answer. If he didn't please her, she wouldn't want him. No doubt Luc had her own life now and if Seiji wasn't careful, she could tell him to leave. Why should she keep him, after all? She probably didn't want him complicating her life. Where would he go, if she didn't want him?

They went into the main house and the first thing that caught Seiji's eye was something new, not a memory. It was a family shrine dedicated to the dead. Luc obviously noticed that Seiji had stopped to examine it and stood next to him. "Mom and dad died, Sei-chan. They died several years ago. The dojo is mine as is the house. That's why the dojo looks like a dump. After dad died, I let it go." She looked slightly ashamed. "I have so much to do, there just isn't time for the dojo. Besides, there are too many memories here. I kept thinking I was being haunted. My work usually gives me a place to live. I travel quite a bit, mostly to Africa. Heck, I practically live there. I'll take you some time, yes? You'll like it, I think. Sunny and warm. Lots of room to run."

Seiji could barely remember them, but the photos of his mother and father make the memories a little clearer. He had his mother's hair and eyes, but his father's face. Luc had it the other way around, father's dark hair and eyes with mother's delicate face. Just faint images and other sensory memories showed him mother's music and father's cologne.

'I feel...I feel...pain?' He should feel pain at their deaths, right? Seiji thought so, but he wasn't sure. Seiji reach out and touched the photo of their mother and father that was on display on the shrine with a fingertip.

Luc bowed to the shrine respectfully and Seiji watched her, curiously.

'The dead are gone. Why honor what is not there? I just do not understand.' But he didn't say this out loud. Again, he was cautious not to make Luc angry. The house was hers. If she decided he wasn't worth keeping around, then he would have nowhere else to go.

Luc brought Seiji into a large room with a low table in the middle and a box, like a computer screen, in the corner. "Are you hungry? Can I get you anything to eat? I don't have much in the house, but I'm sure I can find something." Luc asked eagerly. "There was some canned fruit last time I was here."

Seiji shook his head. He knew he wouldn't be hungry for several hours yet.

"Would you like to rest, then? It's not too comfortable here, but I can rent us an apartment in the city. Something nice and cozy."

Again, Seiji shook his head, but this time more insistently. He didn't want to leave. This place was safe. This place was home. 'But I'll go if you want me to.' Seiji thought. 'Tell me what to do, Luc, and I'll do it. Just don't send me away. Please, let me stay. I need you.'

"Okay. We can just stay here." Luc sat at the low table, on her knees, and motioned for Seiji to sit, also. "Seiji, why are you wearing a flight suit? I've been wondering since I saw you. At first, I thought you were someone from the military."

Seiji looked down at himself, at the plain black body suit he was wearing. "To keep warm." He answered honestly. He'd always worn similar outfits. Why wouldn't he wear it?

"No, no. I mean, well..." Her voice trailed away as if she wasn't sure how to say what was on her mind. "I'm a pilot for the Alliance, for OZ, really. I wear a very similar suit when I'm in battle or when I'm training. Are you a pilot?"

'The Alliance? Luc is from the Alliance?' Instincts kicked in and Seiji almost put a hand to where his gun was concealed. He had been trained for only one thing. Kill the Alliance, destroy it. Luc was from the Alliance and that made her an enemy. But, Seiji wasn't working for Doctor J anymore. He didn't have to follow orders. Wasn't that the main reason why Seiji had left? Yes, it was partly to be with his family again and partly because Korin had told him to escape. Mostly, it was because he didn't want to kill anyone. Seiji let his hand drop to his side. 'Luc is my sister and she wouldn't do wrong things. I will not kill her.'

"Seiji?" She was looking at him, puzzled. "Are you all right? You looked odd for a minute there. Was it something I said?"

Seiji shook his head.

"Will you tell me why you wear the flight suit?"

"No. If you don't like this, I will wear what will please you, Luc."

She sighed. "You'll tell me when you're ready, I'm sure, but tell me if you're in trouble, Sei-chan. I have some powerful friends and I'm sure I can help. Why don't you take a shower?" She suggested. "You look awful and I think the hot water is still working." She gave Seiji a warm smile, just happy to have him back, it seemed.

Seiji just felt grateful that he was remembered. Nothing else mattered.

A short time later, Seiji stood under the showerhead and happily let the hot water beat into him. Luc was right. The warm shower was wonderful, soaking into Seiji's aching muscles and letting him relax for the first time in a long time. Luc had given Seiji some of their father's old clothes and sent him into the bathroom. Another place Seiji remember vividly. The whole house was exactly the same as Seiji remembered save for the fact that it seems so empty. At least it wasn't falling apart like the dojo. Seiji scrubbed his hair thoroughly and finally got out. The cold air was a bit of a shock, but he didn't mind. Doctor J had always made him take showers that were icy cold to condition him to unpleasant situations. Or so he said. After Seiji dried off and, with a towel wrapped around his waist, Seiji started to comb his hair, pulling and struggling to get the knots out. It took a very long time and Seiji thought about saving it all off, but he couldn't find a razor. Finally, after much time, Seiji's hair was loose and straight, hanging down around his face.

Luc seemed to think Seiji had to look presentable, so he combed his hair back, away from his face, before getting dressed and going out to find her again. She was in the garden, watching birds peck at the ground, and spoke before she turned to look at him. "Are you done? You take the longest showers for a boy." It was then that she turned around and saw him. Her face paled and then her eyes narrowed. "Shit!" She swore, violently furious. Seiji saw her lips tremble. "Sei-chan, what happened to your eye?" She stood up and put her hands up to his face. Her gaze was drawn to where Seiji's left eye had once been.

Seiji reached up and almost touched it, but brought his hand down again. It had happened when Seiji had been far younger, after just a few months of being partnered with Heero. "Punishment."

"Who?" Luc glared at Seiji, staring at where his eye had been, at the scar tissue that covered not only where the eye had been but up to Seiji's hairline and almost down to his chin. They'd let it heal on it's own, after all, it was only an eye, not as if it was life threatening. The skin was darkened, almost black from the electric prod Doctor J had destroyed Seiji's eye with. He had fainted after just the first touch to his eye. When he'd woken up, the eye was gone.

Luc shook Seiji a little and drew his attention back to her. "Sei-chan! Who did this to you?" She really wanted an answer, but the truth would only bring her trouble.

Seiji could see it disgusted her to just look at the missing eye, so he ran his fingers through his hair and let it fall over half of his face as it had been when he'd first arrived. She didn't have to look at it. The last thing Seiji wanted to do was cause her pain.

She took Seiji's arm and gave him a little pull. "Sei-chan, we have to get you to a hospital! Get a doctor to see it!"

'No!' Seiji pulled away sharply, almost knocking Luc over and started back away into the house, shaking his head. 'No, I will not go to any doctor!'

"Sei-chan, please, maybe someone can help you."

Again, Seiji shook his head. "It's old. No danger." 'I will NOT go! No doctors!'

Luc was almost in tears, but nodded. "Whatever you want, Sei-chan. But I will have someone look at it, no doctor, I promise. As soon as he comes back from his mission, I have a friend who has a little medical knowledge."

Several days later-

Several days passed and Seiji found that the world was very much different than he'd expected. Luc, for Seiji's sake, she said, moved back into their home. "I had to ask for a leave of absence, but luckily for us, my commanding officers are good friends of mine. I have about as much time as I need. They even let me transfer to the city for a few months when I told them about you. I don't know how long I'll have here, but when I have to go back to work, you can come live with me. Trust me, you'll love Africa."

Seiji nodded. The house was important, but not as important as Luc. It really didn't matter where they lived so long as no one took him away from Luc, again. Seiji want to stay with her and protect her. She said she was a pilot. Seiji hoped her job wasn't too dangerous. Maybe she was trained like he was. That wasn't a very pleasant thought.

Luc tried very hard to make life as comfortable for Seiji as possible, but how could he tell her just being there, with her, was enough? Seiji was so tired of being alone. She never once mentioned sending him away and Seiji filled up his days with cleaning and repairing the house and dojo. Even if Luc didn't intend to stay there permanently, it made him feel good to be doing something useful.

Seiji stayed mainly in the house, still fearing that Doctor J might be lurking around looking for him, and Luc went out every day to work. Luc went into the city most days for her other job. Normally, she trained pilots for OZ, a part of the Alliance's military, but while they were in the area, she was working as a part of someone's staff. Someone named Treize Khushrenada, the commander of the Alliance.

Seiji missed her when she was gone and feared, several times, that she wouldn't come back. She always did, though. Every night she came home tired and worn out, carrying a bag of take-out. One night she even brought home clothes for Seiji. Piles of clothes like Seiji had seen other teenagers wearing his first day in the city. "You can't wear a flight suit all the time and dad's clothes just don't fit you right. All the teenager boys seem to be wearing things like this. Not quite fashionable, but you can't go wrong with t-shirt and jeans." The jeans were all dark blue, but Luc had bought a rainbow of t-shirts. Green, red, orange, white, black and every other color.

Their habits of Luc going out to work and Seiji staying at home were comfortable and Seiji was starting to almost feel safe after about three weeks. Seiji rarely left the confines of the house, preferring to read in Luc's small library or practice with their mother's wooden flute he'd found in their parent's bedroom than to going out anywhere. He couldn't think of a reason why he should want to leave. One night Seiji's comfort and feeling of safety was challenged when Luc called him on the telephone one afternoon.

"I forgot my lunch at home, Sei-chan. Can you bring it to the city hospital? I'll be on floor sixty-eight." She paused. "I'm sorry to ask. I'd come and get it myself I could spare the time. I'm really sorry to ask, Sei-chan." She knew he didn't like leaving the house, but Seiji knew she wouldn't lie to him.

"I will come." He found her lunch easily enough where she'd forgotten it on the kitchen table. The trip through the city was a challenge. Seiji was still amazed at the number of people all pushing and shoving for space when there seemed to be none. It was almost impossible to avoid touching people. Cars sped by and Seiji had to ask for directs when he couldn't find the hospital.

Hospitals were another thing to conquer because hospitals meant doctors.

As the large building came into view, Seiji felt a strange feeling in his chest. His heart was beating to rapidly, and he had to work to settle it down. It was just like his first day in Sendai when he'd seen the white car pull up in front of the little boy near the school. It was fear and Seiji hated the feeling. Being afraid made him feel helpless, although it did give him a perverse satisfaction to know at least part of Doctor J's training hadn't worked.

Inside was even worse. The halls of the hospital smelled like antiseptic, and the walls were a sickening green. Seiji paused in a room with small children waiting with their parents. There was a woman at a desk and, as Seiji didn't know his way around, he went to her. It seemed like the most efficient action.

"Floor sixty-eight." Seiji said flatly, expecting a fast answer.

The woman looked at him over her large glasses. "What can I do for you, honey? You don't look hurt or sick."

Seiji looked back at the woman, confused. He just wanted to know where floor sixty-eight was.

She waited impatiently for a minute. "Well? Have you been hurt or are you just here visiting someone?"

"Visiting."

"Well, take the elevator, honey." She gestured to where it was, on a wall. As Seiji walked toward the elevator, he saw a white coat out of the corner of his eye. He didn't slow, even as his heart started pounding again and he could feel himself starting to sweat with fear.

The man was very ordinary looking, with short dark hair and glasses, but he also wore the white coat of Seiji's nightmares. They both walked into the elevator at the same time and Seiji was trapped.

"What floor, kid?" The doctor asked with a pleasant smile as his fingers hovered over the buttons.

"Sixty-eight." Seiji had to struggle to speak passed the lump in his throat. Seiji stood as far from the doctor as he possibly could without looking obvious. The doctor pushed the button and ignored Seiji for the ride up, but Seiji couldn't ignore him. 'He's going to hurt me. I just know it. He's going to take me back to Doctor J.'

The elevator stopped a few floors away from floor sixty-eight to let on three more doctors. This has to be a nightmare! They are talking and laughing with each other about some gossip going around their hospital. How can they be so friendly? Doctors are evil.

Finally, the elevator stopped at floor sixty-eight and Seiji left as quickly as he could. To his relief, all four doctors stay on the elevator and continue up, away from him. He was amazed. They hadn't hurt him. They didn't even touch him. They'd barely looked at him. Seiji almost smiled.

The next mission was to find Luc. Seiji took a deep breath before looking for her. His hands were shaking and it worried him. It only showed others how he felt and that was very, very dangerous. He had to have control. The doctors hadn't hurt him and he was safe. There was no reason to be afraid.

Luc was filling out papers when Seiji finally found her. She was dressed in her uniform and looked very serious. "Thanks, Sei-chan." She smiled, accepting the bag of food. "Oh, this is a dear friend, Zechs."

He was very tall, much taller than Seiji. The most astonishing thing about him was obviously the mask he wore. The mask covered his whole face and his head, letting his long, fair hair fall down below his shoulders. It was such a pale blonde that it was nearly white. The mask was highly polished and had the vague shape of a bird's head. Zechs had been standing very still at a large window that looked into one of the hospital rooms with his hands clasped behind his back, but when Luc had spoken, he'd turned to Seiji and bowed, politely. "Good afternoon. I'm Zechs Marquis."

A bow was expected, Seiji remembered. Doctor J and the trainers working for him had never been overly concerned with manners, but Luc was and Seiji wanted to please her. He remembered this sort of thing from childhood and bowed to Zechs as he remembered seeing his grandfather bow. Feeling very proud of himself for remembering, Seiji stepped away and turned to look at Luc again. As he was turning, his eye fell on who was in the hospital room Zechs had been looking in.

Heero! The shock of seeing Heero laying in the hospital bed almost made Seiji gasp. Seiji managed to keep his mouth shut and hoped that nothing had shown on his face. Heero, Seiji's former partner, lay in the hospital bed, deathly pale and with his head wrapped in bandages. Over the white blanket that covered him were three wide leather straps, binding him to the bed. How could Heero, Doctor J's perfect creation, have ended up like this? Seiji could feel he was close to death.

Obviously, Heero had been sent to find Seiji. The plans for operation Meter weren't due to start for a few weeks and Seiji's escape was a major security risk for Doctor J. Logic said that Heero was here for Seiji. Logic also said that Seiji should take this opportunity to kill Heero.

It would be a good opportunity to get rid of Heero. He was helpless and that wasn't likely to happen often. Not that Seiji was very familiar with Heero, anymore, but he was familiar with Doctor J's training methods. Being the sole focused of Doctor J's attentions since Seiji had been virtually discarded, Heero was most likely much stronger in every way than Seiji. Heero death would make Luc safer. The weight of Seiji's gun, hidden under his jacket, felt suddenly heavier as he pondered the question.

Heero was also Seiji's friend. He was the one who'd rubbed Seiji's aching muscles after a hard day training and Seiji had popped Heero's dislocated shoulder back into place more than once. They'd even slept in the same bed for six months before being separated. When the heating would fail to come on, they would hold each other at night.

To kill or not to kill?

Hmmmm. Decisions, decisions.

"Is something wrong, Sei-chan?" Luc asked.

She would not be happy if Seiji killed Heero. Luc didn't even know Seiji had the gun, but it was habit to carry the thing now. "No." Seiji answered. "Nothing is wrong. What happened to him?"

"He tried to kill himself, the silly fool." Zechs answered. "He came very close to succeeding, also. We're just trying to find out who he is and why he was snooping around an Alliance base."

"He may yet die." Luc added, sounding sad. "He's only a child, not any older than you, Sei-chan. I still don't understand what he was doing at the base, in the first place. He actually put a gun to his own head and fired it!" She seemed outraged at the attempted suicide, but Seiji wasn't sure why. It's what Seiji would have done in his situation. Isn't that how other soldiers are trained?

"He must be a spy of some kind." Zechs answered. "Why else would he have been looking in the Alliances' data base? The information he was looking for must have been very important if he was willing to kill himself for it. I just want to know who's the monster training kids as fighters."

Seiji knew that Luc wanted Heero to live, but he wasn't sure why. What connection could she possibly have to him? If Heero was simply here as a spy, then he wasn't looking for Seiji. If he was looking for Seiji, did he think Seiji had gone to the Alliance for safety? Oh, well. It wasn't Seij's role to question. "I will save him for you, Luc." With that, Seiji walked around them and went to the door of the room.

"That's very thoughtful, Sei-chan," Luc said. "But I'm not sure you..."

Seiji turned the doorknob and found it locked. A simple problem. Seiji gave it as hard a twist as he could, breaking the lock and walked into the room, ignoring the startled look Luc gave Seiji.

Confidently, Seiji put a hand on Heero's chest and healed him. Seiji wasn't sure how he did it, but he did know he could heal people. He'd never done this sort of thing before that day and Seiji don't know where the power came from, but Seiji knew it was there. He helped Heero's body to heal itself and, when he was sure Heero would live, Seiji took his hand away.

Luc and Zechs were, by that time, in the room with Seiji and when he was finished he looked at them. "He will now live."

Luc blinked and then turned a savage look to Zechs. "If Treize finds out about this, I will rip your lungs out! Do you understand?"

Noin-

Noin knew exactly what Treize would do if he found out there was someone who could heal so easily as just touching a person. Seiji would be dragged into OZ with little or no say in the matter. Treize was a very nice person, heck, he was one of Noin's best friends, but he was also very determined to win the war he wanted to begin. He would, Noin didn't doubt, treat Seiji well. But, Noin wouldn't have her baby brother taken away again!

"Yes, Noin." Zechs agreed, but Noin hoped his honor would hold up. Noin knew for a fact that he had a terrible crush on Treize and tended to give the man whatever he wanted.

Seiji turns to leave, no doubt going back home, but Noin call to him and he obediently came to stand in front of her. It frightened Noin. No one was supposed to be as unfailingly obedient as Seiji was. Especially not a teenager. She hadn't been, as a teenager. "Sei-chan, Zechs is the friend I wanted to have look at your eye." Then Noin looked at Zechs. "Someone, I think, burned his eye out. Will you look at it and tell me if anything can be done? He won't see a doctor for some reason."

Zechs nodded and motioned for Seiji to come closer. Carefully, Zechs pulled back Seiji's hair and, to his credit, didn't react at all to the sight of Seiji's dead, charred skin or the badly sewn shut eye. It looked as if someone had deliberately held a white-hot iron to his eye. "How old were you when this happened?"

"Seven."

Zechs was angry, Noin could tell by the way his lips tighten into a thin line, but he didn't show it to Seiji. Noin was angry, too, but she'd heard this before. It was one of the little drops of information Seiji would give her about his time away from her. Noin couldn't help but want to kill whoever did this and it worried her that Seiji wouldn't tell her who had done it.

"Well," Zechs let Seiji's hair fall back into place. "I'm sure we can have an artificial eye made to match the other one, but there's no way to save it. I'm sorry, but it's been dead for a long time."

Seiji nodded, sharply, as if it didn't matter, and looked at Noin. "I'm going home." He stated, and this time he left.

Noin took another look at Seiji before the elevator door closed behind him and looking back to the nameless Gundam pilot they'd captured. "So, that's the brother you've been telling me about." Zechs commented. The medical computers were showing that the pilot was now in perfect health. This was definitely not natural. "You realize he had a gun under his jacket, didn't you?"

Noin nodded, frowning sadly after Seiji. "He's had it since he arrived. I don't think he thinks I know about it. He hasn't used it, though." She gave Zechs a grateful smile. "Thanks for letting him in."

"I trust your judgement." The scanners and security guards monitoring the Alliance's hospital had noticed Seiji's weapon and it was only thank to Zechs that Seiji had been let in without any trouble. When the guards had reported it to Zechs, being the highest ranking soldier in the building, Zechs had listened to Noin and let Seiji through. The 'doctors' who'd ridden in the elevator with Seiji weren't doctors. They had been security guards sent to watch him until he was with Zechs and Noin whom, it was thought, could look after the situation. On his way down, Seiji would no doubt find himself in another elevator full of doctors.

"He disappeared when he was only six and turned up at the dojo last week. You remember I told you about my grandfather's dojo? There's something wrong with him, Zechs. He won't talk, not unless you speak to him first and he either can't or won't tell me where he's been for the last nine years. Then there's his eye. Who would do that to a seven-year-old?" Noin wanted to cry, but didn't let herself. Seiji had the face of an angel, who would want to take that from him?

Noin could still see him as a child, his golden cloud of hair floating around his face as he runs around the back garden of their home. He had been the most loving child anyone could hope to meet, very trusting and open. Seiji would run to Noin and holds his arms out to her. "Dance with me, Luc!" He cried with a smile.

Mother had been playing her wooden flute and father busied himself lighting the lanterns while night creeps forward. Even the fireflies danced in the moonlight. "Sure." Noin took Seiji's hands and let him stand on her feet. Together they would prance around the back garden until they couldn't stop laughing as mother changed her music from soft and gentle to a faster paced beat for them to dance to. Father had smiled and laughed with them as he hugged mother from behind. Life had been perfect.

Then Noin's life had been torn apart when Seiji wasn't waiting for her after school one blustery spring afternoon. It had been Noin's job to pick him up after his first day of kindergarten. Noin was older that Seiji, six years older, so she had been given the responsibility to walk him home everyday. Seiji hadn't been waiting outside the school where he said he would be. He wasn't at home when Noin got there. Their father and mother had done everything they could have done, but no one had any idea where Seiji had gone. Then one child from the school had come forward and said something about a white van and a man (they couldn't remember what he looked like) grabbing Seiji. They never learned anything else.

For many years Noin suffered from guilt. If only she'd gotten there sooner, or if she'd told Seiji to wait inside the school for her instead of on the street corner, he might not have been kidnapped. Their mother died first, from cancer, and father followed with a heart attack. Noin had been left alone on her nineteenth birthday. All alone.

The only thing that kept Noin going was Zechs, her best friend. He'd managed to talk her into going to college when Noin had just wanted to lay down and die. It was Zechs who had taken Noin to therapy when the depression set in and it was through Zechs that Noin had learned about OZ and Treize. Noin dedicated her life to OZ, making herself the best pilot and, later, instructor possible. It was difficult, but it filled the gaps left by her missing family.

Now, Seiji was back. Wearing a military style, skin tight flight suit, a solemn expression that never seemed to change, and hurt so deep in his one eye that Noin almost couldn't bear to look him in the eye. Noin had seen how Seiji had looked at the injured boy that had been captured. Recognition. She was sure Zechs had seen it, too. How could Seiji know that boy? Military style uniform and recognizing a spy. The pieces of the puzzle that were Seiji's life were starting to become clear, but Noin didn't like what she was seeing. It was a dark picture.

'God, what happened to my baby brother?'

"Maybe he can't talk about it." Zechs suggested, bringing Noin back to their conversation. "If he's been traumatized by whatever happened, it might have effected his mind. You don't know what kind of torture or abuse he might have suffered while he was gone and nine years is a long time."

Noin hugged herself, not wanting to think of Seiji being hurt or, even worse, 'touched'. "Maybe you're right. But how can you explain this?" Noin pointed to the healed pilot. "How did Seiji do that?"

Zechs remained silent.

They left after a short while. There was nothing more they could do here and there were reports to file.

In the hospital room, the brown haired spy's eyes opened the moment he was alone. Time to get out. He had a mission to accomplish.

Later-  
The Date House-

Noin stood on the porch of the house she'd grown up in and watched Seiji putter in the garden. It had been almost three weeks since she'd come home to find him standing in the middle of the dojo and almost nothing had changed. The black flight-suit was gone, replaced by blue jeans and white t-shirt. He looked almost like any other teenage boy on the street. The problem was that he didn't ACT like other teenagers.

'The problem is that he doesn't know any normal teenagers.' She thought, taking a sip of coffee. She needed the caffeine. Twenty-four hour shifts were Hell. 'He never leaves the house unless I ask him to and then he just does what he has to do and comes back. I don't think he even talks to anyone but me. He didn't even like Zechs. Or maybe he did, but he didn't smile or show that he might like Zechs. And what was that with the boy in the hospital?' The boy who, Noin had been told, escaped only hours after she and Zechs had left the hospital. She hadn't told Seiji. There was nothing he could do about it one way or the other, so why worry him?

It frightened Noin when she thought about seeing Seiji do…well…whatever it was that he'd done to heal the boy. To heal someone with just a touch was miraculous. It was amazing. It was also impossible. No one could heal just by touching, it was like something out of a fairytale and Noin had stopped believing in such things a long time ago. 'There was a glow around them. A greenish light. That boy should have died. I watched him shot himself in the head.' She remember it too clearly. A skinny, angry looking kid…blood everywhere. A kid with the same lost eyes Seiji had. 'There's a connection. Seiji knew him. I'm sure of it.' It frightened her all the more to know that she could see Seiji standing in that boy's place. She could picture Seiji carelessly holding a gun to his own head and pulling the trigger without hesitation.

"Sei-chan," Noin waited until Seiji had turned around and looked at her. The mangled part of his face, his eye and the surrounding area, were covered by his hair and Noin thought that it must be her fault he kept his face hidden. She should have handled herself a little better when she first saw it. How could any sister handle that well? Noin shuddered at the memory. A dead eye and all that awful scarring. "You're going to start school next week."

Seiji nodded mutely and Noin had expected nothing more. He never spoke without reason.

"Is it okay with you, Sei-chan? We can wait, if you want. A couple of more weeks until you get settled won't make much difference."

"You wish me to begin next week?"

"Yup. It'd be nice for you to make a few friends. You need to get to know more people than just me."

"I know Zechs."

"You won't see much of him, though. He's an officer, in charge of a lot of people. Besides, you need friends your own age. I think school's the best way to do that." Noin had come to the decision a few days after the incident at the hospital. It was obvious that Seiji needed something, but Noin just wasn't entirely sure about what that something was. He refused to go see any kind of doctor or therapist when Noin had suggested it, almost seemed afraid of the idea. Even going to the hospital to drop off Noin's lunch seemed hard on him, though he'd done it without complaint. The solution was so simple, when it hit Noin, that she was ashamed she hadn't thought of it sooner.

"Then I will begin next week." Seiji turned back to the garden with his little spade and went back to turning over the soil.

To be continued... 


	5. I Was So Scared

A/N: YST names are different from Ronin Warrior names. Here are the warlord translations:

Warlord Ma-Sho Talpa Arago Netherworld Youja Kai Dais Rajura Cale Anubisu Sekhmet Naaza Anubisu Sh'ten Earth Ningen Sekai

Chapter 5: I Was So Scared

Ryou-

Fire.

Burning.

Ryou hadn't meant to start the fire. "Granma!" It was an accident. He was just angry. He didn't even know how it had started, but he knew it was his fault. "Granma! Help me!"

But Granma was screaming. Ryou could hear her even over the fire. "Ryou! Get out of the house!"

Get out? Ryou stared at the flames licking at the door of his bedroom and couldn't move. The walls were covered in fire and it was just starting to get on the ceiling. Worse, the more fire there was, the more Ryou was afraid. The more afraid he became, the more fierce the fire burned.

Above him, the fire crackled and crawled across the ceiling. Heat and the fire filled the room, making the little boy choke from the smoke. He hugged himself, but couldn't move. There was nowhere to go and granma keep screaming on the other side of the door. He could hear her so clearly over the sound of the fire, but he didn't know what to do. "Granma, help me!"

There was a thud on the door so loud that it made Ryou jump. Another thud and the door splintered open. Another thud and Ryou saw the gleaming head of a metal hatchet. It was jerked out of the door and then THUD! It hit again. This time, when it was pulled away, Ryou saw his granma though the hole in the door.

"Come on!" Granma shouted. She backed away and the door started kicking it. At last, the door crashed apart and Ryou's granma held out a hand. "Run…" She didn't finish what she'd been about to say. The roof creaked and groaned before it fell in, crushing Ryou's granma under dozens of massive, flaming beams.

'What have I done?' The thought felt distant. Ryou couldn't tear his eyes away from the pile of burning wood. 'Granma's under there. She's dead. I didn't mean it.' The only sound was the fire as it crackled and popped, filling the cabin with smoke until Ryo couldn't see. 'I tried to put the fire out, I really tried.' The fire was too much. Too strong and wild for him to control. He just wasn't strong enough to call it back once he'd let it loose. The fire wanted to dance and it wanted to sing, no matter what the cost.

Ryo coughed as the smoke filled his lungs after every choked sob and he knew he deserved to die. He couldn't let granma die alone. Ryou's granma had sent him to his room for saying a bad word and he'd gotten so angry. So terribly angry that he'd seen red and wanted something to come and eat his granma. The fire started in his room, singeing the gingham curtains, though it didn't touch him, and quickly spread to the rest of the house.

The roof started falling apart, crashing down all around him, making the Ryo fall to his knees and cry harder. 'I just got angry, I didn't want to be in trouble. Please, someone, make the fire stop!'

Later-

Ryou woke up later and the cabin was nothing but ashes around him. The fire had burned so terribly, that there was almost nothing left of the cabin. Ryou started to walk around where the remains of the cabin, tripping and stumbling over the half-burnt timbers, was but he couldn't see anyone. Ryou started to breathe very hard, the reality hitting him suddenly, when he saw it. A thin, blackened hand barely visible in the rubble. "No."

Bending down, Ryo cautiously reached out to the hand, almost touching it. 'Maybe this is all a dream. Maybe I'll wake up.' But the hand felt real and Ryo jerked away so violently that he fell down.

Ryo screamed. 'I did that. I...I killed granma. I burnt her up and I made her die.' He didn't stop screaming until he ran out of air and his throat felt like he'd swallowed a handful of razor blades. Eventually, when his voice gave away, Ryo ran into the forest, not caring where he was going. He was alone.

Alone.

St. Maxwell Orphanage-  
Duo-

St. Maxwell wasn't a bad place as far as Duo was concerned. As orphanages went, St. Maxwell was a great one if you could keep away from Sister Helen's yardstick and keep away from the few bullies that liked to pick on kids smaller than themselves. Duo was intimately acquainted with sister Helen's yardstick, well, his backside was, anyway and he'd learned long ago how fast he had to run to keep away from her. As for the bullies, they were a bit harder to avoid, but fighting with them was fun.

Duo had lived there, in the antiquated building, his whole life and could never remember anywhere else or anyone taking care of him but Sister Helen and the other nuns with Father Maxwell. He knew he'd had a mother because everyone had a mother, but other than that, he might as well have been found in a cabbage patch. "You're lucky, Duo." Sister Helen had told him when he'd asked about his family. "You can choose your family to be anyone you want."

"But who was my real family? My mom and dad?" Duo had asked, insistently, until Sister Helen took him on her lap and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"The Earth is your mother and the sun is your father, you little devil. The stars are your sister and flowers are your cousins." She smiled sweetly at him. "Your family is the whole world and they all love you."

Duo listened seriously. He trusted Sister Helen more than anyone else, so what she said must be true. It was in her smile, her gentle touch. She always told the truth. "What about brothers? Do I have any brothers?"

"I think so." She let hugged him lovingly and patted his long hair. "You'll find them one day, I'm sure."

Duo was older, now, and he didn't quite believe what Sister Helen had told him long ago about his family. Not that he'd ever call her a liar, but he knew more. The Earth and sun couldn't be his parents. It was impossible.

He'd heard the older kids talking about him and saying that he'd been found on the doorstep and Father Maxwell had taken him to see his mother's grave once. She was buried in the small cemetery out back of the orphanage. Father Maxwell had told Duo that his mom must have died just after giving birth to him and that she had died just outside of the orphanage. But Sister Helen stuck to her story, always telling Duo that his mother was the Earth and the sun was his father.

Duo didn't mind.

Truth or lie, it was far nicer to think that his family was magical, strange things than buried under a mound of dirt in a weedy graveyard.

St. Maxwell was old, but the sisters who took care of the boys kept it in as good condition as possible. It was a fair distance from the city and surrounded by a thick forest. Unlike most orphanages, this one wasn't surrounded by a high iron fence; a fact that Duo took advantage of when he chose to take a midnight wander into town.

On one windy morning, when everyone was let outside for playtime, Duo didn't play. He sat on the front steps of Saint Maxwell's and watched everyone else run and yell and generally go crazy. He, however, didn't feel like playing. Instead, he felt like watching.

Sometimes, moods like this struck him. It was fun to watch people. To see their expressions and the way they moved. It was fun to hear how they spoke to each other. Duo pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged them when he saw the big, black car pull around the corner of the dirt road that led directly to Saint Maxwell's. Everything stopped and the front yard went still as a graveyard. Everyone stared at the black car slowly rolling towards them, the loud engine making the only disturbance in the silence. Mouths hung open, some of the kids had never seen a car so magnificent. It was even polished enough to shine. It certainly didn't look like it belonged out in the forest.

Duo knew it belonged to someone from the state. Few people came all the way out here to adopt kids, so it must be someone dropping off a new orphan. His first guess had been that maybe someone really rich wanted to adopt a kid, but that wasn't very likely. Rich people would go to one of the better orphanages in the city. Besides, proof was the license plate. All government cars had that type of license plate. Duo had seen enough of them over the years. Every year or so, some official would come to speak with Father Maxwell or do an inspection of the building. That thought made Duo believe that they might all be called in quickly to straighten up themselves and their beds, but when Sister Helen stepped out of the front door and only watched the approaching car grimly, Duo knew that wasn't the case. No inspection, but she didn't look happy to see the car.

When the black car finally parked, the kids drew close to look at their reflections in the polish, but not close enough to touch. They were all well aware that anyone from the government could cause serious trouble for them. Even Duo stood up so he could see better over the heads of the kids.

"Get away. Little urchins. Don't even breathe on my car!"

Duo didn't like him at once.

The man who'd gotten out of the driver's side was tall and dressed in a very expensive suit. He walked to the passenger side and opened the door, allowing a small boy to get out. Duo watched boy, who was probably about his age, but looked smaller. He walked funny, in a reluctant kind of shuffle. His shoulders were hunched tighter, tense as a bow, and he kept his eyes on his feet, though he walked obediently when the man gave him a shove on the shoulder. The boy was dressed very shabbily with unkempt black hair.

Duo felt a surge of familiar pity and decided that he would try to be friends. 'Bet his folks just died. Or maybe they gave him up.' Seeing as how he had never known his parents, Duo had never really felt very sad about not having any. He thought that it must be awful to have them and then lose them. Duo hopped down the stairs and ran to the quiet boy.

There was an ulterior motive to Duo's Duo wanted to have a new friend. Although Duo had a very open and friendly disposition, he had no close friends. Mainly, this was due to the fact that he wasn't Japanese and most of the other kids were. It just wasn't fair. It wasn't as if he was the only foreigner. Even Sister Helen was from England and Father Maxwell was French. None of the other kids were ever disrespectful to them.

"Hi!" Duo said pleasantly, getting into step with the sad looking boy. "I'm Duo, what's your name?"

The boy didn't answer, didn't even look up at Duo, and kept walking. It was as if he hadn't heard Duo.

Duo poked the new kid on his skinny arm. "What's wrong? Cat got your tongue? You don't have to be afraid of me, I'm real nice. Why won't you talk to me? I'm very friendly and I'll tell you everything that goes on around here. You can borrow my yo-yo if it makes you feel better, but it's my only toy so you have to take good care of it and..." Before he knew what he was doing Duo had started to ramble again. He had a nasty habit of speaking very quickly and nonstop about what ever popped into his head and, since no one was telling him to stop, Duo was gradually building up speed.

"Duo, why don't you go play?" Sister Helen suggested. She always said it like that. Never told, always suggested. "This is business." She was looking, not at Duo, but at the new kid with shaggy black hair.

Of course, Duo didn't do as she said, but just walked about two steps away before watching the scene unfold. He loved Sister Helen and tried to please her, but he was far too curious about this quiet newcomer to just leave. Besides, nearly everyone else was watching, so why shouldn't Duo?

Sister Helen looked down at the still silent boy at the rich man's side and gave her usual kind smile. "Good morning, dear. Can you tell me your name?"

The government man who was frowning at her rudely interrupted sister. "Ryou doesn't speak, as I all ready told you over the phone. He's been practically catatonic since the fire. He won't answer you. His name is Sanada Ryou and he's nine."

"Do you know exactly what happened?" Sister Helen, though she had a very sweet temper, looked decidedly annoyed at being interrupted.

"No. He was found by the side of a highway, the police managed to track down where he lived and found out that the fire had consumed the house. The remains of his grandmother were found in the remains of the house." The man shrugged coldly ignoring that the boy was right next to him and could hear everything being said. "Old biddy was probably smoking and fell asleep with her cigarette or something. I understand they used candles and oil lanterns for light and they had a wood fireplace, so God knows what happened, it could have been anything."

Sister's eyes narrowed dangerously, not liking how the man was speaking in front of her newest child, but she managed to hold her temper and be civil as she put a hand on Ryou's shoulder. "Thank you for delivering him, but I can take it from here. Where are his belongings?"

"He doesn't have anything, everything was lost in the fire. What he's wearing now is from the charity box they keep at the child welfare department. Even his own clothes were nearly destroyed from the fire."

The man turned and walked away without another word. Ryou never acknowledged that anyone had spoke to him or about him, just stood there with a blank look on his face and stared at his shoes.

Sister Helen knelt down to look at Ryou's face. "Ryou? Would you like to see where you'll be sleeping?"

Ryou stayed quiet.

"Are you hungry? Would you like to eat?"

Still, Ryou didn't make a sound or show that he knew he was being spoken to.

Sister Helen thought for a moment, biting her lip the way she always did when she was thinking hard. Finally, an idea seemed to hit her and she spoke to Duo. "Duo, this is Sanada Ryou and he's going to be living here now. Will you show him around, please?"

Duo nodded, always happy to help. "Sure." He started to walk away, but stopped when he noticed Ryou didn't follow him.

Almost sadly, Sister Helen took Ryou's hand and led him over to Duo. "You'll have to lead him, I'm afraid."

Duo took Ryou's hand and found that Ryou would follow wherever he was led, but still wouldn't talk. Duo led Ryou around the large brick building and introduced him to most of the kids. Showed Ryou where the bathrooms were and the schoolroom, though Duo didn't care much for that place. He took Ryou to the dormitory where all the boys slept in the narrow cots and had footlockers to keep their meager belongings in.

"You can have the one next to me." Duo offered, pointing to the bed just under the window. "Hiroshi used to have it, but he got adopted a few weeks ago. Go on, have a seat." Duo motioned to the bed.

Ryou obediently sat, but offered no reaction otherwise.

"If you're lucky maybe you'll get adopted, too. I'm cuter so I'll probably go first, but you're not ugly, either. Maybe if you talk more someone will want you." Duo stopped himself just after he said it and looked at Ryou, horrified. "I didn't mean it, Ryo." Duo sat next to Ryou, who was acted as if he hadn't heard, and put an arm around his shoulder. "I didn't mean that no one will want you. Forgive me?"

Ryou didn't speak, but he did look up at Duo with hurting eyes.

"Ha!"

Duo and Ryou both turned at the new voice, the mocking laughter of an older boy. "You're a foreigner, Duo. No one's going to want an ugly American! You'll be here forever and probably die here, too."

"Shut up, Akira!" Duo snarled. "You don't know what you're talking about! You're three years older than I am and no one wants an old kid! You're not even cute so you'll be here forever. Unless even the sisters decide they doesn't want you and they kick you out!" Duo really hated the older kid, so arrogant and snotty, but Akira was probably right. Duo had been here his whole life and not one of the Japanese couples who'd come in looking for children had ever even spared him a second glance.

Akira managed to grabbed a hold of Duo's shoulder length braid and gave it a tug. "Maybe if you cut this thing off and at least tried to look a little normal, you might have a chance. This is a boy's home, no girls allowed!" His tone was nasty and he pulled the braid hard as payment for Duo's remarks.

"Normal is boring and I'm NOT a girl!" Duo bit back the cry of pain and reached over his shoulder to punch Akira in the face, but missed and ended up only getting Akira's arm. "Lemme go!"

"Stupid brat!" Akira taunted. "You can't even fight right for all you..." Akira suddenly cried out and fell to his knees, releasing Duo.

Duo blinked, surprised to see that Akira had fallen to his knees and Ryou was now standing with his fist raised and furious eyes.

As Akira made his way to his feet again, he threatened, "I'm gonna tell Sister Helen!" Akira made his way to his feet. "I'm gonna tell her your friend attacked me!" With that Akira ran out of the dormitory like the coward he was.

Duo's eyes finally went to Ryou who's fists had lowered to his sides and, for the first time, there was emotion in his eyes other than sadness. He was angry and Duo could almost swear he saw fire in Ryou's eyes. Then, all of a sudden, the anger faded and Ryou's eyes turned back to normal blue, the tension went out of Ryou's body and he turned, walking out of the room slowly.

Duo was stunned. He blinked and let a smile spread across his face. If Ryou could get angry then maybe he would be all right. Duo firmly believed that he worst thing for a person was to keep all their emotions bottled up inside. He believed this because sister Helen told him so. That Ryou had gotten angry meant that maybe he would start talking. Hopeful, Duo ran after Ryou to find him outside, sitting under the old pear tree near the surrounding forest. Duo sat next to Ryou, and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, Ryou spoke.

"I was angry." His voice was soft, barely a whisper. Strangely, he sounded frightened. "I was so angry and I burnt granma up in the fire." Ryou swallowed hard, burying his face in his arms. "I made the fire and I heard granma screaming, but I couldn't stop it. The fire was all around me, but I it didn't hurt. I didn't help her. My granma died and I didn't help." Ryou looked at Duo with tears in his eyes. "I can't get angry, Duo. It was my fault and if I get angry again, it might happen again. I might kill people. You shouldn't be my friend. I'm evil."

Duo's eyes were wide as full moons. He really didn't think that Ryou would say anything like that and he wasn't quiet sure what to say. "How did you make fire?"

"I don't know. I just wanted to hurt her for making me go to bed without supper and the fire was there. I didn't mean it. I really didn't mean it."

Duo inched closer to Ryou. "That's weird. You shouldn't tell sister Helen, Ryou. If other people find out they might get scared of you for no reason. I won't tell anyone, I promise. Maybe you can find a way to control it."

"I already have. I just won't get angry anymore."

"But you can't always be happy. You can't just say you won't ever get angry. You were angry at Akira just a minute ago and you hit him. What if you lost control and set him on fire, too? Sister Helen doesn't like hitting and if she finds out you were fighting she'll make you scrub the bathroom." Duo's expression said that he'd faced this punishment more than once himself. "She's gonna think setting fires is MUCH worse than hitting!"

Ryou looked doubtful and then back at his hands. "I don't know what to do. I just don't want to use the fire again. It hurts people too much. I don't want to tell anyone, they'll send me to jail or something. That's why I don't talk to the grown-ups."

Duo patted Ryou on the shoulder. "Don't be afraid. I'll take care of you. After all, you beat up Akira for me, so now you're my best friend."

Ryou blinked at Duo. He hadn't seen the situation in that light. "I am?"

"Yep. It's a rule. You stood up for me now I'll stand up for you." Duo smiled with all the sincerity in the world. He'd given his word and he'd stand by it.

"You can't be my friend." Ryou shifted away from Duo, putting more space between them. "I'm evil. I kill people."

"Evil is in intentions." Duo said, quoting sister Helen. "Did you want to kill your granma?"

"No!" Ryou's eyes narrowed at the idea.

"Well, then it was an accident. A horrible accident, but an accident all the same. Besides, evil or not, I can be friends with anyone I want."

Many weeks passed and Ryou slowly got more used to the orphanage. For a good many days, he refused to speak to anyone but Duo, but gradually, Duo persuaded him otherwise. Ryou would speak quietly and only rarely, but that was alright because Duo made up for him. Their friendship was nearly exclusive. No one but Ryou wanted to be Duo's friend and Duo was the only one who didn't ignore Ryou from fear of the bully, Akira, who was still nursing his injured pride. They spent all their time together from classes to meals and then sleeping next to each other at night. Careful arranging had allowed Duo to move his bed next to Ryou's.

No one really objected to Duo moving his bed, not after the first night when Ryou had a nightmare.

There was a scream of abject terror and it woke Duo out of a very nice dream about flying. The scream went on and on and it wasn't for a few minutes until Duo realized he wasn't dreaming anymore. Someone turned on the lights and Duo's eyes fell to the one making all the noise. Ryou was stiff as a board in his bed with his hands clenched around his bed sheets in tight fists, his mouth wide with the scream. He showed no signs of letting up. No one seemed to know what to do, they just stared at Ryou when he kept screaming and a few of the younger children began to cry in fear. When Ryou's whole body began shaking and jerking as if he were having a seizure, Duo jumped out of bed and ran to Ryou's side.

"Wake up!" Duo shouted, shaking Ryou's arms. "Ryou! It's only a dream, wake up! Wake up!"

Ryou gasped, a sudden intake of breath as if he'd been drowning, and his eyes opened very wide. It seemed like he was still in his dream because Ryou didn't look at Duo, he just stared at the ceiling and kept shaking. The shaking stopped very abruptly and Ryou 's whole body went limp. Very slowly, his eyes focused on Duo and he blinked, confused. "What's going on?"

"You had a nightmare." Sister Helen must have been woken from her sleep and Duo wondered if father Maxwell had been woken up, too. Sister Helen, in her nightdress and robe, walked to them, gracefully and squatted down by Ryou's bedside. "Are you alright?"

Only then did Ryou noticed how many people were watching him. He blushed deeply and pulled the sheets up a little closer to his face. Duo knew that Ryou hated being watched more than anything else. "I'm okay."

Sister Helen considered for a moment. "Do you need to get up and walk around for a bit?"

"No." Ryou shook his head, no doubt hoping everyone would just go back to bed and stop looking at him. "I'm okay. Really. Sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry about. If you're sure you're alright, when don't you go back to sleep. That goes for everyone. It's the middle of the night. Everyone to your beds. You've all had nightmares before, Hurry now." She clapped her hands lightly and, as usual, everyone dashed to do what she said. Everyone except Duo who stayed stubbornly at Ryou's side. He had the sneaking suspicion that the nightmare was about the fire. Since Duo had told Ryou not to tell sister Helen about it, that left no one for Ryou to confide in but Duo and Duo didn't want to abandon Ryou. "Duo?" Sister Helen gave him a curious look when he didn't do as he was told. "What's up?"

"I'm going to stay with Ryou, tonight."

Sister Helen was not known for being indulgent or for reacting well went children forgot to say please, but this time she conceded, for whatever reason. She decided that there was enough room to move Duo's bed in next to Ryou's. Duo wondered if she saw Ryou's grateful expression when she helped Duo to move the bed.

Ryou had another nightmare that night, but when Duo woken up and touched his arm, Ryou stopped screaming and settled into a peaceful sleep for the rest of the night. Everyone agreed that it was for the best to have Duo next to Ryou at night. Even if Akira did nastily tell Duo that he was sister's pet, even he had to admit that it was worth it for Ryou not to keep waking everyone up at night.

Duo found himself becoming protective of Ryou who seemed at once to be so vulnerable and innocent, but could also be very strong, temperamental, and rash. Like the time he'd stood up against Akira, Ryou would stand up to any bully that happened to cross his path. He had once climbed a tree to help one of the little kids out who'd gotten stuck up there and Ryou had even chased a rat out of the kitchen for the sisters.

Ryou was, in Duo's eyes, very brave. He feared nothing except fire. Ryou couldn't stand to be near fire. He would start to shake and sweat, cowering behind anyone and anything just to hide himself from the fire, usually Duo. Ryou admitted to Duo that the fire frightened him because he liked it too much.

"I feel like I could just watch it forever and like it would do anything I wanted it to do and that I'm apart of it." Ryou told him. Ryou didn't want to feel like this, like he was apart of the thing that had killed his granma. "That makes me evil, too. How could any good person like what kill someone so important as their own granma?"

For once, Duo didn't know what to say. He crawled into Ryou's bed and lay next to him, thankful that they were both small enough to squeeze in together, and put an arm around Ryou. There was nothing he could say that would give Ryou any comfort or peace. The only one way to do that was to have Ryou forgive himself and that wasn't very likely.

The most Duo could do was to just be there for Ryou and that, he promised himself, was just what he would do. No matter what happened, he'd always be near just incase Ryou needed him.

Youja Kai-  
Naaza-

They were summoned in the middle of bathing which was why they were all dripping wet and why Anubisu was in such a foul temper. He hated having wet hair dripping down his back. It was luck for them all that Emperor Aragon had no interest in their physical state, he didn't notice that they were all soaking wet when they came to kneel before him in the throne room.

WHAT'S THIS ABOUT? Naaza thought, letting his three brothers hear the question. IS IT TIME? The anticipation of the war had been building recently. Small hints Arago had either deliberately or accidentally dropped when he spoke to them showed that the war was getting closer by the minute.

Sh'ten, the baby of their odd little family, with his face still lowered to the ground, said, I HOPE SO. The eagerness in his mind's voice was echoed by Anubisu's. Both of them were impatient for the war to conquer humanity. IT'S BEEN SUCH A LONG WAIT. I'M TIRED OF DOING NOTHING! STUCK IN THIS ENDLESS NOWHERE!

Their thirst for battle was something Naaza was accustomed to, but that didn't mean he understood it. Sh'ten always called him a lazy creature and perhaps that was right. Naaza was good at battle, he had been trained well, but that didn't mean he enjoyed it or looked forward to it. Where Sh'ten and Anubisu dreamed of glorious battle and the thrill of near death, Naaza would dream of warm sunny rocks to sleep on.

"My generals," Arago began, his deep voice filling the room with dread. "You who have served me so faithfully, your time of triumph rolls nearer. The bearers of the yoroi, opposites of your own, are beginning to appear." The ghostly mask that served as Emperor Arago's face looked down upon his four generals and it was impossible to guess what he was thinking.. "One of the yoroi bearers has been made vulnerable. Retrieve him, my Ma-Sho. Bring the child, Rekka, to me. You will raise him to serve me and when the yoroi comes to him, he will fight along side you for the greater glory my empire!"

The Ma-Sho bowed their heads solemnly as they knelt before their master.

Sh'ten, letting them all feel his irritation that this was nothing more than an errand, elbowed Rajura who was kneeling next to him. YOU GO THIS TIME. I WENT ON THE LAST ERRAND FOR OLD BAGGY EYES. IT'S YOUR TURN.

NO, Rajura replied. I'M BABYSITTING KAY THIS WEEK. He directed his thoughts to Anubisu. YOU GO GET THE KID.

NOT ME. I'M INTERVIEWING FOR A JOB AT ONE OF THOSE NEW MILITARY COLONIES IN SPACE. SOME KID NEEDS SPECIAL TRAINING TO BE A SOLDIER. Anubisu looked at Naaza. YOU GO GET HIM.

Naaza couldn't think of a single excuse to get out of it, so simply nodded with resignation. IF I HAVE TO, I GUESS I CAN HANDLE IT.

"Do whatever you have must in order to get the child." Emperor Arago continued, unaware of the conversation that had gone on right in front of him. That was the way the Ma-Sho wanted it. Arago had such great control over their lives, it was only right that they keep some secrets from him.

Naaza nodded obediently.

To be continued… 


	6. Home

Chapter 6: Home

Saint Maxwell's Orphanage-  
Duo-

Ryou and Duo had been watching the autumn leaves as they drifted out of the trees when the man walked out of the dense forest as if he'd just been passing by. That, of course, was not possible. No one just passed by Saint Maxwell's. They were so far out of the way that only people who had business at the orphanage ever came there, but, Duo wondered, why would anyone walk miles through the forest just to get to an orphanage.

"What are you looking at?" Ryou asked when he realized Duo's attention wasn't on the baseball game of the older kids. He followed Duo's gaze until he, too, saw the approaching stranger. "Maybe he lives in the forest."

It was possible, though the idea seemed strange to Duo. Ryou had lived his whole life in the forest so maybe it didn't seem so odd to him. "Look," Duo whispered. "He's coming right to us."

The man was tall and very thin, walking with a graceful gait until he came close enough for Duo to get a closer look. Such a man, Duo had never seen so far from the city. His pallid skin seemed to be tinged with green, but Duo knew that must just be a trick of the light. What couldn't be described as a trick of the light was the purple eyelids that, somehow, didn't look like make-up, and bright green hair that stuck up in a wild tangle. His lips were thin and his over-large eyes scanned the area, quickly taking in everything around him from the building to the baseball game nearby.

The man paused only for a moment when his eyes landed on Ryou and Duo. He stood still for a moment and turned his head a little to the side, as if thinking hard. Duo saw the man's eyes flicker between him and Ryou, look irritated, then he continued walking. The man was dressed very traditionally, in a kimono of dark green and brown. When he saw Duo's grin, the man scowled sourly. For a long time, neither of them said anything and just watched each other. "Are you a boy or a girl?"

Duo huffed himself up at that, always sensitive to his braid. "A boy, freak. What swamp did you crawl out of?"

"One that is about twenty minutes walk that way." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. By this time, the man was standing right in front of them and had gained attention from more than just Ryou and Duo. Some of the other kids were watching him wearily and Duo felt fairly certain that sister Helen or one of the other sisters would be out in a minute. "Sanada Ryou." He turned his attention to Ryou. "That would be you, if I'm not mistaken."

Ryou blinked up at the stranger and looked surprised at being spoken to. Over the past few weeks, Ryou had gotten into the habit of speaking to only Duo. No one ever wanted to talk to Ryou, anyway, so he let Duo speak for both of them. Now, with the strangers attention on him, Ryou kept to his habit and didn't so much as open his mouth. Instead, he looked at Duo, hopefully.

Never one to disappoint a friend, Duo told the stranger, "Ryou doesn't talk much. What do you want?"

"I've come to offer Ryou a home with my family." It didn't seem to faze him that Ryou wouldn't speak to him. "We've been looking for you."

Ryou against Duo and took his friend's hand. "I...I want to stay with Duo."

"Well, we'll see about that." The green haired man looked up when sister Helen approached, no doubt suspicious of a stranger talking to her children, and he smiled at her charmingly.

Naaza-

The demand was almost too much to stand and Naaza had to use all his willpower not to simple take the boy. "What do you mean, you want to meet my wife?" They were in her office when sister Helen had begun the adoption discussion when he'd told her he was interested in having Ryou as his son. "Do you honestly believe I need a woman to raise a child?" How simple it would be to simply take Ryou and to Hell with inconvenient human conventions. Rajura, however, would want him to be subtle. "What day and age is this to be constrained by such outdated concerns?"

Sister Helen faced him down without a qualm or the slightest droop of her smile. That alone made her rise in Naaza's estimation, a hard thing to do considering Naaza's long lasting hatred of humans. She tried to placate him, assuring him with her gentle tone, "Well, we need to ensure that the children have a proper home with a loving mother and father, Doku-san. We also want to be very sure you are the right type of people to raise a special boy like Ryou. He's had a hard time these past few months and is badly traumatized by the way his grandmother died." She sighed at that and motioned for him to sit. "You wouldn't know, you only met him a moment ago, but Ryou's one of our most troubled children. He's working through bouts of depression, intense guilt, and has only just come out of a period of not speaking. His progress has been remarkable considering he only came to us a few weeks ago, but he'll need continued therapy and support for a long time to come. In all honesty, I didn't expect him to ever get adopted. Most people aren't willing to put that kind of time, effort, or money into any child."

Rajura knew the mind better than any living creature. If the boy needed therapy, then he would have the perfect therapist in Rajura. "I can assure you, he will have all the care he needs. My own brother is a psychologist." He silently thanked Sh'ten for teaching him the modern word for a person whose only duty was to listen. "Ryou will be excellently cared for." 'And if you don't give him to me, I'll just take him.' He added the thought.

Sister Helen nodded. "I hope you're right. All the proper channels must be followed, however. There's paperwork to fill out and identification checks to make. Many, many regulations must be followed through. You do realize that you'll have weekly home visits from the state department for quite a while, don't you? The regulation about only married couples being allowed to adopt, I'm afraid, is old and far outdated, but it is the rule. You MUST be married in order to adopt. You are married, aren't you?"

Naaza hesitated. 'JURA, ARE YOU SURE YOU DON'T WANT ME TO JUST TAKE THE BOY?

YES. Rajura answered sternly. THERE'S NO NEED TO UPSET THE NINGENS BEFORE WE'RE READY TO CONQUER THEM. YOU'RE CLEVER ENOUGH. JUST BLUFF YOUR WAY THROUGH IT.

"Yes, I'm married." Though the idea of binding himself to a ningen, willingly, made him sick to his stomach. "She's a lovely woman."

"Forgive me, but you do look rather young. How long have you been married?"

"A few months."

"And her name?"

Naaza could think of only one word to properly describe the person he had in mind. "Zankoku."

"There's no need for that!" Sister Helen snapped, irritably. For a woman who supposedly worshiped the pacifist carpenter, she seemed to have quite the temper. "Calling your wife cruel…"

"No. That's her name. Zankoku. Cute, huh?" He smiled just because he knew it would irritate her.

She looked at him doubtfully, but at last nodded. "Very well. Just bring your wife here, and we'll let you have a little visit with Ryou. You must understand that if this is what's best for Ryou, then it'll take time to make all arrangements. There are papers to be signed and investigations to be made. We'll have to do a criminal check, of course."

Naaza sighed and tried very hard not show his impatience. Papers? Investigations? PLEASE, JUST LET ME TAKE THE BOY. HE'S SMALL. THEY WON'T EVEN NOTICE HE'S GONE.

NO. DO IT THE RIGHT WAY.

WHY?

BECAUSE SH'TEN'S HAVING FUN WATCHING YOU PLAY NINGEN. WHO AM I TO RUIN THE BOY'S FUN?

Ah. So, it was all Sh'ten's doing. Fine. Two could play like that.

Youja Kai-

"Just put on the damned dress, Sh'ten!" Naaza allowed himself a grin at his little brother's expense. "Rajura wants this played by Ningen rules because SOMEONE around here thinks I'm amusing. Wouldn't want to go against Rajura-sensei, now would we?"

"I'll kill you for this, Naaza."

Ningen Sekai-  
Ryou-

Together, Ryou and Duo had watched the green haired man stalk away, back into the forest he'd come from. "Weird." Duo nudged Ryou in the ribs. "What'd you think? Maybe he'll come back?"

"Maybe." But maybe not. Ryou didn't like getting his hopes up. The man was weird, but he was also the first person to show any interest in Ryou since he'd come to the orphanage. He probably wouldn't come back. Not that it mattered much. Ryou didn't want to leave Duo, anyway. "He seemed nice."

Duo laughed loudly and stretched out of the steps they were still sitting on. "He was weird, but I liked him. Green hair. Did you see his face? He wore make up. Now, there's a brave guy. I shouldn't have given him a hard time. Maybe he'd want me, too. Green…heh, heh…cool." There was none of Duo's normal teasing, but real admiration in his voice.

Ryou watched the man until he couldn't see him anymore. Funnily enough, Ryou liked him.

Not more than three hours later, when Ryou and Duo were taking math lessons when Ryou was starting to fall asleep, again. It wasn't really his fault. Lessons were boring. The sisters always enforced the rules about education which meant that everyone had math, reading, history, and science. The only one that was at all interesting was history because, Ryou thought, all those stories were real. They'd happened to real people. Science was real, but all of that was a bit over Ryou's head. Reading was okay, if the story of good, but math…Ryou despised math. He just didn't understand it. Why should any of it matter, so long as he could count what else mattered? That was the reason why Duo had been poking Ryou in the back with the tip of his pencil for the past twenty minute, to keep Ryou from snoring.

When the door of the classroom opened and sister Helen poked her head in and looked around before her eyes landed on Ryou with a pleased smile before she spoke to sister Mary, the math teacher. "Pardon me, sister Mary. May I borrow Ryou for a moment?"

Ryou, of course, went to sister Helen without waiting for sister Mary to tell him he could go. Sister Helen ruled the school and she was only asking out of politeness. If she needed him, he had to go. A glance of his shoulder showed Ryou that Duo was watching him curiously, but didn't say a word, which was a bit odd for him.

He hadn't done anything wrong, Ryou was sure of that. The times he did get in trouble, Duo was usually called to sister Helen's office, too. Not that Ryou had ever ratted Duo out, but sister Helen was pretty clever about that sort of thing. So what it could be about, Ryou had no idea and he could only follow sister Helen through the empty halls to her office. Sister Helen didn't seem angry, but it was hard to tell with her. She didn't say a word until she was right at the door of her office and her hand was on the door knob.

"Don't look so worried, Ryou, dear. This could be a great chance for you."

"I don't understand."

"Just come in and keep an open mind. Tell me honestly what you think. Things will go smoothly from there."

She opened the door and Ryou was surprised to see the green haired man from the other day half sitting on the corner of sister Helen's desk. How odd that he'd come back so quickly. Duo had said that if the man came back it would be a couple of days, at least.

The green haired man smiled pleasantly at Ryou, though, so Ryou smiled back. Ryou thought that it must be his imagination, but he could have sworn he saw fangs instead of teeth.

"You know Doku-san, you met earlier." Sister Helen ushered Ryou in and told him to sit in one of the chairs in front of her desk while whispering, "Mind your manners and be polite." She raised her voice slightly to say, "This is his wife, Doku Zankoku, and they've come just to speak with you, Ryou."

Zankoku was very pretty, but had a sever face and bright green eyes, rather like a cat. She didn't look happy. In fact, she looked downright angry the way she stood ramrod straight, tapping her foot with her arms crossed over her chest. The most striking thing about the woman was her straight, red hair and the amazingly ugly green and purple polka dot dress.

"Well, there he is. Just like I told you." Doku-san gave Ryou a pleased smile and, unless Ryou was hallucinating, showed off a pair of fangs. "He'll do just fine, won't he?" Doku-san elbowed his wife in the ribs. "Don't look so standoffish, honey."

It was enough to make Zankoku smile tightly with gritted teeth. "Hello," She managed to squeeze out as she looked down at Ryou. She wasn't angry at him, Ryou was pretty sure of that. "It's a pleasure."

Sister Helen shook the lady's hand and seemed quite pleased. "Ryou, dear, Doku-san and his wife want to take you home with them. They want you for their son. Isn't that wonderful?"

It didn't feel wonderful. Ryou felt his stomach seize up and his mouth went dry very suddenly. "I…I want to stay with Duo." He didn't really want to be given to a new family. Surely, he didn't deserve one after what he'd done to granma. Wouldn't it be better for him to stay at the orphanage? At least when he was with Duo, he wasn't likely to hurt anyone. "Duo takes care of me."

Duo popped his head in the door. He was, as usual, exactly where he shouldn't be. "That's right! Where Ryou goes, I go! We're a team, a matching set!" He gave them a cheeky smile and jumped into the room, flinging an arm over Ryou's shoulder and grinning up at Doku-san and Zankoku.

Doku-san and Zankoku looked at each other and shrugged, indifferently. "Why not? How much trouble can an extra boy cause?" Doku-san asked before he looked at sister Helen and said, decisively, "We'll take them both."

"Both of them?" Sister Helen repeated with a frown. "I hope you realize what a responsibility it is, adopting children, I mean. Someone like Ryou will be hard enough. This new change won't be easy on him. Duo is another story entirely. He's highly intelligent, but he gets bored easily and tends to make trouble for fun. You have to be very patient with both of them."

Doku-san never stopped smiling. "Don't worry about that. We have all the time in the world. Would you like to be our children, boys?"

Duo nodded enthusiastically. "That'd be great!" He looked at Zankoku. "We'll be the best kids you could ever want, mama!"

Zankoku's left eye twitched strangely at the word mama. "What about you, Ryou?"

Ryou, didn't know how to answer. 'Someone wants me? What if I hurt them?' He just stared and let himself cry until he felt a feather light touch on his cheek.

Zankoku touched his face gently and she smiled, really smiled, at him. She almost looked happy when she ran her thumb over Ryou's tear stained cheek, brushing away the wetness with her calloused thumb. "You're sweet when you cry, but there's really no need for it. You don't have to be afraid of us. We're family, after all. You don't have to be afraid, anymore."

Ryou choked. "Y-you will?" Ryou didn't want to get a family if he was just going to kill them, too. He didn't want to hurt anyone else like he'd hurt granma. What if they didn't like him? He said bad words, after all, and that was what had led to his granma's death. Ryou hugged himself, trying to calm down but Duo was getting agitated at seeing Ryou like this. He didn't even know why Ryou was crying, really.

"Don't cry, Ryou-chan! It'll be great, we'll be brothers for real and we'll have a family with a real dad and mama and everything. Please, don't cry!" Duo threw his arms around Ryou, trying to comfort him, and even kissed Ryou on the cheek to cheer him up, but Ryou kept crying.

Zankoku nodded. "Yes, we'll be a real family and you have uncles waiting to meet you and a little sister. We don't live too far away from here and there are so many new things for you to learn. Will you come with us, Ryou?"

Ryou wiped his nose with the back of his hand and blinked away tears. "With Duo?"

"With Duo."

Doku-san and Zankoku sat with sister Helen in the office to sign the papers and get all the information they needed about Ryou and Duo's pasts. They scheduled home visits and learned about the boy's allergies - Ryou couldn't eat strawberries for fear of a rash and Duo got puffy when he ate olives - but throughout all the paperwork and forms, they both barely seemed to be paying attention. As if none of it mattered.

Duo, for the first time since Ryou had met him, was absolutely still. He and Ryou stood with their backs to the door, just watching their soon-to-be parents. While Ryou couldn't help but be frightened with the memories of his granma screaming still fresh in his mind, Duo looked blissful. It was more than happy. His eyes shone and his wide mouth was pressed in a soft smile. He couldn't take his eyes off them. It was so intense, Duo almost seemed to be studying them.

"Sure, I wanted to study them." Duo admitted when he and Ryou were alone in the dorm room after Doke-san and Zankoku had left. They would return in several days to get the boys, but were told that the paperwork had to be filed and approved before anything could happen. "It isn't everyday I get a family. Aren't they great? Doku-san still has the weirdest hair I've ever seen and Zankoku was real grumpy, but they were still great. Just think, we won't be sharing a bedroom with fifteen other guys." Duo hopped up on the bed beside Ryou and leaned back until he was looking straight up at the ceiling. "They've got a big house and there's others! We get a little sister. I always wanted a sister. Uncles, too. I wonder what their names are?"

Ryou couldn't seem to muster the same enthusiasm. "Aren't you afraid? Just a little?"

Duo rolled over to looked at Ryou. "Sure. At least you've had a family. You know what to do with them. This is a first for me." His smile slipped. "No. That's a lie." He slapped himself in the mouth. "Mustn't tell lies. Anyway, I have had a family, but now I have to leave her. Sister Helen raised me. The other nuns all come and go. The other kids get adopted or sent to other homes. Sister Helen, though…she was always here. You know, when I was little she used to let me sit on her lap and she'd sing to me. She taught me to read, too. I still remember her pointing out the words when she read the story of Noah's Arc to me. I always liked that one. Of course, I'm afraid. I don't really want to leave Sister Helen, but it's time. She has loads of other kids to look after and I can't stay here forever if I have a chance to move on. Think of it this way, if we go, she'll have two other beds to give two other kids who need a home."

It made sense. There were lots of kids in the world and in the colonies who needed a safe place to live and there was no safer place than under Sister Helen's watchful eye. Maybe she would go out and find two kids who were starving on the streets. Thinking of it that way, it would be selfish not to go.

"So, we should go. Right?"

Ryou must not have sounded as confidant as he'd tried to be because Duo took his hand. "We ARE going. The papers are signed and they'll come in a few days. It's an adventure and it'll be fun. No matter what, I promise I won't let anything bad happen to you."

The next few days seemed to go by too quickly, but Duo enjoyed every minute of it. Duo was nearly bursting with happiness when he lorded it over Akira about being adopted by a 'really cool guy' with green hair and a beautiful red haired lady. He made very sure that everyone knew that he and Ryou had found the absolute best parents.

Ryou was more nervous, however. He didn't know how to behave for Mr. Doku or Yoko, but he dearly wanted his new parents to like him. Duo had told him that people wouldn't like him because of his fire, that they would be afraid of him.

There seemed to be a chance that all Ryou's worry and Duo's happiness would be for nothing. The day before Doku-san and Zankoku were to come get them, Sister Helen spent the whole day looking very worried and talking seriously on the phone.

"There's a problem with the paperwork." Ryou overheard when he passed her office. "You don't understand, sir. Yes, yes I understand the children must be placed as quickly as possible, but," She stopped talking when the person on the other end of the phone said something. "No. I can't find any Doku family and the address they gave me is a warehouse in Chuba. They aren't who they say they are."

When Ryou told Duo what he overheard that night, Duo chewed on his thumbnail uneasily. "Sister Helen won't let us go with people she doesn't trust." Ryou knew that Duo trust Sister Helen without question and if she said the deal was off, Ryou knew they would be staying at the orphanage. "Well, we'll hope for the best. It's probably just some silly mistake. Now," He sat cross-legged on Ryou's bed and put on his serious face. "Do you remember what I told you?"

"Yes. Call Zankoku-san mama because mom's like that. It'll make her like us more and she'll want to keep us."

"Right. Doku-san doesn't matter as much. It only matters what mama says." Duo explained seriously with the wisdom of his years at the orphanage. "I don't know why, but that's the way it works. Hey, Ryou, will you brush my hair for me?" Duo held out his brush and let Ryou straighten his shoulder length hair out. "I hate going to bed with it loose, it always gets knotted up." Ryou did this almost every day, a sort of ritual for them every morning after they washed up. Ryou would always braid Duo's hair as best as he could.

Whatever the mess with the paperwork was cleared up by morning because Sister Helen didn't say a word about it and tearfully helped them pack little bags. She gave them both toothbrushes and a comb for Ryou and a hairbrush for Duo. She gave them a suit of nice clothes and gave them each kiss on the forehead. While she gave Ryou a wristwatch she pressed a small, worn bible into Duo's hands.

"It's the one she used to read to me from." Duo later told Ryou when he asked why Duo cried when she gave it to him.

Sister Helen waited with them on the front steps of the orphanage when everyone else ate dinner, waiting for Doku-san and Zankoku. There was little to do to pass the time but talk and while they were talking, Duo asked Sister Helen about what Ryou had overheard about the paperwork.

"It was all a mistake." She answered with an easy laugh. "I got a call that cleared everything up. There's no reason to worry."

"But what was the mistake?" Duo pressed.

"Nothing to worry about." Her eyes looked a little unfocused when she said that. "Rajura-san explained it all."

"Who?"

"He's a friend of Doku-san's…I think. Nothing to worry about. Look, there they are."

Strangely, Doku-san and Zankoku walked out of the forest instead of coming down the road. They walked out of the same place Ryou and Duo had seen Doku-san walk out of the first time and both of them looked as well-dressed as if they were in the city. People just didn't dress that well for walking in the forest.

Ryou tried not to think about that, it seemed very unimportant. He and Duo gave Sister Helen a last hug and kiss before they let Doku-san and Zankoku take their hands and they let themselves be led away.

Time for a new life.

Just a few minutes after leaving the orphanage found Ryou in familiar and comfortable surroundings. Doku-san and his wife had led Ryou and Duo right into the forest where they'd come from and it was in was in the forest that Ryou always felt most at home. 'So long as I'm with Duo, anywhere can be home.' It felt strange to hold someone's hand, though. Even stranger to think that the red haired woman who was scowling so darkly was his new mama. 'But I don't want a new mama. I still love mine.' It was only a few dim, fading memories, but Ryou could remember his mother before she'd died. He remembered that she laughed a lot.

Ryou looked over his shoulder at Duo who was holding Doku-san's hand and smiling happily, chattering about something. Duo seemed very much at ease with their new dad, but mama, on the other hand, was glaring straight ahead, not looking at Ryou who held her hand. Her good mood had seemed to evaporate as soon as they'd gotten out of sight of the orphanage.

"Did you start the fire?" Mama asked suddenly.

'How could she know that? Sister Helen must have told her.' Ryou started to shake, he was so afraid. Ryou licked his lips and tried to pull away her, but mama held on tight. "I-I didn't mean it." 'Please, don't hate me. Please, don't take me away from Duo.' He was very frightened that his new mama would take him back to the orphanage but keep Duo. After all, Duo was normal and safe. Duo wouldn't hurt them just because he got mad.

"You're so fragile. We'll have to toughen you up a bit." Mama looked down at Ryou with a tiny smile, as if she didn't want anyone to see it. "Don't be afraid."

Ryou, not really understanding what mama was talking about, just nodded. "Yes, mama."

"Please, don't call me mama." She shot a look of hatred at Naaza. "I will have my revenge for that, Naaza."

"I look forward to it, 'Ten-chan." Naaza answered easily.

Mama and Naaza led them to a kind of gate in the middle of the forest. Two large red and gold columns stood in the middle of a glade, ornate things that definitely shouldn't be out here. "Where are we?" Duo asked, looking around, confused. "What's this?"

"This is the way to get to our home." Naaza answered. "We just walk through the gates and then you can see your new home. Our brothers and sister are waiting for us on the other side." Naaza looked down at Duo. "Are you ready?"

Ryou took a tight grip of mama's hand and walked through with her, Duo behind with Naaza. Ryou pushed his doubts to the side. Duo was right. This was a good chance. They'd have a family and a real home. They all stepped through the gates together and there was a terrible feeling of being lightheaded for just a minute and then they in a hall.

Youja Kai-

Even the air tasted different from the forest. Not a bad taste, more bland. Like there was no life in the air. Ryou looked around and tightened his grip around the hand he was holding. There were tapestries hanging on the walls and elaborate rugs on the floors.

"Where are we, mama?" Duo asked from where he stood with Mr. Doku.

The hand released Ryou suddenly and scowled. "I'll thank you not to call me, mama, boy." Mama pulled the dress over her head, leaving her in nothing but short trousers, and let the dress drop to the ground.

Ryou frowned. He was sure Duo had told him something about girls looking different than guys without their clothes on. Mama looked just like a man! He would definitely have to ask Duo about this later.

Mama glared at Mr. Doku. "Meet me after dinner in the west courtyard. I'll settle this little humiliation."

Naaza laughed. "In your dreams, oni-chan. But I will meet you anyway. Your ego could use a good thrashing." He eyed mama up and down. "Rajura will thrash you if he catches you in front of the children like that."

"I do hope so."

"Forget it. Come on, boys. I'm sure you'd both like to explore a little and get to know our family. You can call me Naaza or oniisan, if you like." He pointed at mama. "He's Sh'ten and, as you can see, he's really a man. We just dressed him up like a woman so we could adopt you. I'm not married, you haven't got a mama. Just a couple of brothers and a baby sister. You are, right now, in the Youja Kai, the realm of demons. We're the warlords of one of the most powerful demons of them all. This is the palace, you'll be living here for the rest of your lives."

Ryou and Duo looked at each other, shocked. It couldn't be true. But, there were torches with blue fire and they'd just walked through a gate in the forest that led them into this place. Besides, why would Naaza lie about something like that? Ryou decided that it must be true, but he wasn't sure what he should think about it. Living in a world of demons?

Duo didn't seem to have any reservations at all. He smiled brightly and ran to Sh'ten, giving him a hug. "That's great, mama Sh'ten!" He crowed happily. "We're so glad you came to get us."

"Don't call me mama!" Mama Sh'ten gave Duo a little push to get away from the overly affectionate child.

Duo's eyes took on a familiar gleam of wickedness. "But I love you, mama Sh'ten!"

Mama Sh'ten grumbled something about horrid children and began to stalk away, but that only made Naaza laugh and grab his arm. "Don't be so touchy. You've been called worse things and he doesn't mean any harm."

"Since when do you stick up for any human?"

"He's not just any human. He's family." Naaza took Duo's hand again as they all started going down the hallway. "Don't worry about him, he's just grumpy because I made him wear a dress again."

"Again?" Duo looked up at him, honestly puzzled. "Why'd he wear it before?"

Naaza blushed. "I'll tell you when you're older." They walked a short while before Naaza looked down at Ryou. "You haven't said much, Ryou. Are you scared being here?"

Ryou shook his head, but looked at Duo for help.

Duo obligingly added, "He just doesn't like talking. Ryou will talk when he has something to say. Do we really get to stay here forever? Why did you want Ryou? How did that gate thing work? Why is the sky purple? How did mama Sh'ten know about Ryou's fire? Are those real soldiers? Why are they wearing armor? I once met a soldier, but he didn't look like that. He wasn't a very nice man and said bad things to the lady in the market, so I threw marbles on the streets and made him slip on his butt. It was really funny, but Sister Helen gave me a whack when she heard about it."

Naaza looked down at Ryou with an amused smile. Ryou was almost starting to get used to the fangs. "Does he always talk this much?"

Ryou nodded, giving his friend an exasperated smile. The smile faded when Ryou's eyes fell on one of the torches that lit the hallway. Ryou stopped walking and stared at the torch for a moment. His hand tightened around Naaza's, before he let go and ran around to Duo and hid behind him.

"What's wrong?" Naaza asked, confused.

Duo answered, petting Ryou's hair. "Ryou doesn't like fire. It scares him. Can we go somewhere where there's no fire?" As Ryou was staring with fear at the fire from behind Duo, Naaza agreed and they started walking again.

"You don't have to be afraid of fire, Ryou. That's part of who you are, your power over fire."

"He just doesn't like it." Duo answered defensively. "Leave him alone."

The rest of the family was found after a short hunt. "Anubisu is on nanny duty." Mama Sh'ten told them. "So, as soon as we hear," They all heard the baby's wailing at the same time. "There she is. Our darling little sister, Kayura,. We'll go meet Anubisu, shall we?"

Anubisu was trying to soothe the baby to sleep and failing miserably.

"Shut that door!" He bellowed as best as he could while whispering. "Those tin goons always wake her up when they stomp by!" His hair was blue and he was bigger than both Naaza and Sh'ten. He was so big that Ryou held back at the door until mama Sh'ten gave his arm a tug. The man looked like a giant with massively broad shoulders and a neck so thick and muscular that it barely looked human. When he turned around, the man entirely ruined the effect. Though his face was scarred horribly on one cheek, just under his eye, and his cool eyes were hard when regarding Naaza and mama Sh'ten, there was a tiny baby resting in his arms. She was small and pink, wrapped in a white blanket and howling with her mouth wide open.

"Wake her up?" Naaza made a face. "You can't possibly think she's anywhere near being asleep."

"She's almost there!" Anubisu insisted. The dark circles under his eyes told everyone that he'd been at it for a very long time. "She's been fed and changed. I sang to her,"

"Well, no wonder she's upset." Sh'ten commented with a nasty smile.

"Shut up, Ten-chan. She's ready for bed. She'd exhausted."

It was at that point that someone walked in from behind them. The person gave mama Sh'ten and Naaza a rough shove, pushing them both out of the way and Ryou and Duo with them. Duo squawked, indignantly, but the man paid him no mind. He seized the baby from Anubisu's arms and put her on his shoulder. A few soft pats on her back and one incredibly loud belch stopped the crying. The baby was almost instantly asleep on the man's shoulder.

"The next time you let her cry that long, I'll horsewhip you." The man was smaller than everyone but mama Sh'ten and looked…well…not frightening. He just looked different. He wore an eye patch over one eye and had long white hair, though he didn't really look all that old. His skin was incredibly white, almost transparent. Ryou could even see thin, spider webs of his veins sprawling across his porcelain skin. "I've told you a dozen times how gassy she gets."

"Give me a break…"

"Which leg?"

"Baby. Now." Anubisu held out his arms and took the baby from the white haired man. He gently lay the baby down in a little cradle at the back of the room and set it rocking. "If you think you can do so much better, why don't you take over full time nanny duties? I'm doing my best here. I was never meant to be a father!"

Ryou leaned around mama Sh'ten to look at Duo. Duo looked back and Ryou and shrugged. He didn't know what was going on, either. It seemed like kind of an odd family, to Ryou.

When mama Sh'ten spoke up it was with sharp words. "Really, Rajura, such arguing. And in front of children, no less."

Both Anubisu and Rajura turned and seemed to see Ryou and Duo for the first time since they walked into the room. While Rajura's one good eye scanned them up and down, he didn't really react until he looked at mama Sh'ten. The single eye widened with horror and he exploded.

"Pervert! Get out of here!" He screamed swinging his fist at mama Sh'ten.

Mama Sh'ten dodged out of the way, letting go of Ryou's hands as he did, and jumped lightly back towards the doorway. "Now, now…"

"How dare you come in here like that! Where are your clothes?"

"I wasn't going to wear that dress any longer than I had to." He lurched to the side when Rajura raised his other hand and just managed to slip out of the still open door. "Naaza didn't complain."

"This is a nursery, fool! There are three children who don't need your vile influence. Get out and get some clothes on!" When mama Sh'ten had gone Rajura muttered something under his breath about, "Underclothes….honestly…I've raised a pervert… You'd be Ryou."

Ryou suddenly found that he was the center of attention and he didn't like it at all, not after what he'd just seen. If this man was going to try to hit mama Sh'ten, then maybe he would try to hurt Ryou, too. Ryou didn't answer the man, but backed away until he hit the wall.

"I'm Rajura, eldest of us all. Please, forgive Sh'ten's lack of modesty. I'm sure you'll get used to him, in time." He bowed solemnly. "We're all pleased to have you as part of our family, Ryou."

"He's not the only one here, you know." As much as Ryou hated being the center of attention, Duo reveled in it. He grinned up at Rajura as soon as he had the man's attention. "I'm Duo Maxwell, pleased to meet you."

"Ah…yes." Rajura studied Duo closely, looking him up and down and then circling around to look at him from behind. "Hmmm…we weren't really expecting you. Still, you'll do."

Duo looked insulted. "What? Ryou gets the warm welcome and I'll 'do'? What's that about?"

"You're sturdy. A bit small, but that can be fixed with a decent diet and training. Naaza said you were quick, too. That's good." He smiled for Duo and put his hands on his hips. "It's a hard life, here, but I think you'll both survive. Welcome to the Youja Kai."

Sh'ten-  
Some weeks later-

Sh'ten liked having the children around. They made life interesting.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH! $&#!" Rajura's screams filled the palace.

Naaza and Sh'ten looked up from their chess game. It was something new, a game Anubisu had picked up during one of his many trips to the Ningen Sekai. "How'd 'Nubie's job interview go, anyway?" Sh'ten asked when Rajura's scream died away. "He never told me. Something about a training a kid at a military station in space?"

"Eh." Naaza grunted. "He turned them down. Said the 'thing' in charge gave him the creeps. He was part human and part machine. It's horrible what humans are doing these days."

Rajura cursed at the top of his lungs, again.

"You just hate humans, never mind what they do to themselves. Still, it must have been pretty bad if 'Nubie couldn't stand being around him. I mean, really. We work for a demon. What could be creepier than that?"

"What your mouth, oni-chan. Offense might be taken." Naaza's warning tone wasn't lost on Sh'ten, but he didn't much care. Arago had more to worry about than what his ma-sho called him. "Anubisu made a good choice. I wouldn't work for a human, either. No matter what they look like."

"You wouldn't spit on a human if they begged."

The door was flung open and both Ryou and Duo ran in, slamming the door behind them. Duo looked around quickly. "Ryou, hide fast!" Duo dove under the table where Sh'ten and Naaza were playing chess, letting the table cloth hide him after he told the two adults, "Don't tell Rajura where I am!"

Ryou panicked and looked wildly for a hiding place. He looked ready to burst into tears. "Where? Where? Where?" He muttered to himself before his eyes lit up at seeing the long curtain that hung over the window. Hiding himself behind the curtains, Ryou didn't notice his toes sticking out of the bottom.

Naaza and Sh'ten almost laughed, except that at that moment, Rajura burst into the room and he was DEFINITELY not in a laughing mood. "Where are those brats?"

Naaza stared in horror while Sh'ten tried not to laugh. Rajura's long white hair, his pride and joy, hung down his back, in long wet strands. He'd obviously just come from the baths, dressed only with a towel wrapped around his waist. His hair was bright, neon orange.

"Where are they? Those rotten little monsters!" Rajura stopped when he heard the little giggle and he marched to the table, throwing it and the chess game aside and revealing Duo who couldn't help but laugh at the sight of his big brother.

Duo rolled onto his back, laughing hysterically. "You look great, Rajura!"

Rajura got a murderous glint in his one good eye and he flexed his hands. "You...you..."

"It's my fault, oniisan." Ryou crept guiltily out from behind the curtain. "Don't blame Duo."

"What?" While it was common for Duo to play jokes on his family, Ryou was pretty good at staying out of trouble.

"Well, I remembered my granma used to dye her hair. She told me that old people like to dye their hair colors so they can look younger. Since you're old and you've got white hair, I thought you might like your hair colored. Duo told me how to do it and he helped me to mix the stuff to put in your shampoo, but it was my idea." He looked at Rajura for a moment before he finally burst into tears. "IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE RED, NOT ORANGE!"

Rajura was quite a moment. "Really?"

"Yes." Ryou hung his head, deeply ashamed, but Duo rolled his eyes.

"Ryou, you should keep your mouth shut sometimes. You could have been kept right out of trouble."

Rajura rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'm getting a headache." He murmured, before waving his hand which made his hair turned back to white. "Thank you for the thought, but I like my hair the color it is. Go play, Ryou-chan." He patted Ryou on the head, forgiving all.

Ryou wiped his tears with the back of one hand and did as he was told and ran out. Duo tried to follow, but Rajura caught him by the collar.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Um, out with Ryou?"

"No."

"No?"

"You will clean the bath until all that orange stuff is cleaned up. I am fully aware of who was responsible for this mess and you and I both know it wasn't Ryou. Do you understand?"

Duo sighed, but he'd rather expected this. Rajura understood Duo just a little too well. "Yes, oniisan."

"Good. Now, what exactly did you put in my hair?"

"Oh, just some stuff I found in Naaza's lab." Duo replied before wandering out of the room.

"Just some stuff?" Rajura looked horrified.

Naaza patted him on the arm, comfortingly. "I'll go see what he was messing around with and I'll see if I can fix it. Hopefully, it's nothing that will make your hair stay permanently orange or fall out entirely."

"What!" Rajura collapsed in tears right in Sh'ten's lap.

Sh'ten rolled his eyes as he held his friend. 'Kids.' He thought ruefully. Still, it was amusing to see Rajura reduced to tears like this.

It was mainly to relieve Duo's boredom that the Ma-Sho agreed to let the two go to the Ningen Sekai to play. Duo's boredom would be the death of him if he couldn't stop himself from playing pranks on Rajura. Just to get them out of the way for a little while, Rajura suggested that they spend some time away from the palace. "But not without protection!" Rajura had insisted. The boys were only twelve, after all.

"What?" Duo asked. "Are you coming with us?" For him that would ruin half the fun. He wanted to get out and away from his brothers for a while.

"No. That's why we want you two gone for a while." Anubisu answered. "We have some work to do and we don't want you involved."

Sh'ten looked at Anubisu. "Why don't you send the kittens with them?"

Anubisu nodded and went to the window. He stared out into the misty land of the Youja Kai for just a moment before coming back to where they were all seated at a table. "They're coming, they'll be here in a minute. There are a few rules you boys have to remember."

"That's right." Naaza looked at them sternly. "Don't talk to anyone. No one at all, you never know who might be an enemy."

Rajura added in, "Stay together and you are to stay in the forest. Don't go into town for any reason."

"Take your weapons." Sh'ten told them, motioning to the weapons that were currently leaning against a wall, Ryou's little twin katanas and Duo's child-sized scythe.

"Most importantly," Anubisu said, "Stay with the kittens." He now went to the door and opened it. Two young tiger cubs walk in, a white one with black stripes going to Ryou and the black one going to Duo. "This is Byakuen." Anubisu named the white one near Ryou. "And that one near you, Duo, is Kokuen-Oh. They are more powerful than they look, so keep them with you."

That was the beginning of Ryou and Duo's adventures into the world of the mortals, playing in the forests and, occasionally, sneaking away to spy on some campers or others who happened into the mountains they liked to play in.

Ryou-  
Three years later-

Anubisu screamed as he banged on the door. "Boys Get out of bed, you're going to be late!"

Ryou woke with a start and blinked, looking all around the room before he remembered what the hurry was all about. Ryou jumped out of bed and hurried to get dressed. It had taken a long time to convince his oniisan's that he and Duo should go to a regular school instead of just their brothers teaching them.

Ryou noticed that Duo was still fast asleep and knelt to shake Duo, hard. It always took a lot of work to wake Duo up. "Come on, Duo! This was your idea, I don't even want to go, so I'm not going without you!"

Duo groaned, rolling over and tried to hide under the blankets, but Ryou ripped them off. "If you don't come now, Rajura's not going to let us ever go to school. You know he didn't want us going in the first place."

Duo blinked groggily and rubbed his face with the back of his hand. "Jeeze, Ryou. You really know how to ruin a great dream, don't you?"

"What were you dreaming about?"

Duo giggled, and got out of bed. "You wouldn't understand. It was about this guy with bright blue eyes and hair all in his eyes. He was very serious and absolutely drop dead gorgeous!"

"Weird. I've been thinking about that guy we saw in the forest the other day. The blonde guy, you remember." Ryou's mind went to the quiet stranger that he'd been thinking about for several days now, the one with the lavender eye that was filled with loneliness. Blonde hair, like a halo around his head. Ahhhh.

Duo got a dreamy look on his face. "Yeah, he was nice, but he couldn't match the one in my dreams." Duo stared into space for a minute, apparently thinking about his own dream, before shaking himself. "Oh, yeah. School."

It had been Duo's idea, almost a year ago, that they should go to school in the Ningen Sekai. There was no one else for them to talk to or play with than their brothers and their young sister, Kay. Duo wanted other people to talk to and new things to do. That meant going to the Ningen Sekai.

For his part, Ryou would have been content to stay at home and practice his fighting with Rajura or exploring the wilderness of the Youja Kai with Anubisu. It was Duo who was lonely, he just didn't want to go to the Ningen Sekai alone, so Ryou was drafted into going, also. Besides, he wouldn't make Duo do something like this alone. They were always together, so they should do this together, too.

The one factor that had determined whether or not they would go was, in fact, their oldest brother, Rajura. Rajura ruled the household and all family matters. He was adamant that the boys should stay where it was safe in the Youja Kai, but Duo had ways of getting what he wanted.

Several weeks earlier-

"I'd just give in if I were you." Sh'ten advised Rajura.

Rajura stubbornly shook his head. "It's too dangerous out there, you know that. What if something happened to them, especially to Ryou? Duo's far too vulnerable, at least Ryou has his fire to protect him, Duo's only mortal." They were in Rajura's chambers discussing the issue of school. Rajura examined his knitting before continuing. "We have to keep them safe, we won't even be there to help if something should happen."

"They'll be perfectly safe. They are well trained in fighting and are more than a match for anyone they're going to meet." Sh'ten replied persuasively. "Duo is lonely, let him make a few outside friends."

Rajura jumped to his feet and headed for the door, obviously not wanting to talk about this anymore. "Forget it, 'Ten-chan. The boys are staying here." Rajura opened the door of his room and started to walk out when a bucket of water fell on his head, soaking him to the skin.

Sh'ten tried very hard not to laugh. Rajura had become Duo's favorite target after denying Duo's wish to go to school. The sight of a dripping wet Rajura, frozen in shock for a few seconds, was just too hard to ignore. Sh'ten burst out laughing.

Rajura closed his eyes and started to shake.

Maybe laughing wasn't the best way Sh'ten should respond. Sh'ten immediately stopped laughing and looked at his brother. He stepped forward nervously. "Now, now, 'Jura, don't get yourself all worked up..."

"I-am-going-to-kill-that-boy!" Rajura screamed insanely, pulling a spear off his wall and making for the door, but Sh'ten managed to tackle him, dragging Rajura to the floor. They both knew which boy had set up this practical joke.

"Don't kill Duo! You'll hate yourself in the morning!" Sh'ten had to admit that he'd grown used to the children, as he had Kay, who was now ten years old, and didn't even mind being called, mama, anymore. Well, not really.

"Okay, I won't kill that demon-spawn, I'll just throw him in the dungeon for a few weeks, let the rats chew at that braid!" Rajura was struggling wildly, trying to get free, but Sh'ten was holding on as hard as he could.

"For the sake of your own sanity and health, please, let them go!" Sh'ten knew that the practical jokes Duo played wouldn't actually hurt anyone, but they were starting to get on Rajura's nerves. At this rate, Rajura would have a heart attack in a week.

Gradually, Rajura slowed his struggling until finally he was still. "Fine. I give up."

Sh'ten cautiously let Rajura up. "You mean it? I can tell the boys they can go to school?"

"Yes, of course you can." Rajura ran a hand through his hair, straightening it somewhat. "You know I won't let you catch me in a lie. Besides, I don't think my ulcer can stand much more of that boy."

Present time-

Duo and Ryou were dressed in record time, helping each other with the school ties and working with buttons and zippers, things they hadn't seen since their brothers had adopted them and they'd come to this place that seemed frozen hundreds of years in the past.

Ryou remembered that this was the day he had to wear the new clothes, the mortal clothes that students wore, instead of his usual kimono. The uniform was strange and Ryou had to struggle to get everything just right, especially the black tie. Running a hand through his hair, Ryou considered himself done and was going out to meet his brothers, Rajura, Naaza, Anubisu, and mama Sh'ten.

Duo called out before Ryou even got out the door. "Wait!"

"What?" Ryou looked over his shoulder to see Duo struggling with his hair.

"Help me braid it, will you?"

Ryou groaned. "I sometimes wish you'd just cut the silly thing off, you know." Still, Ryou picked up Duo's hairbrush and started to brush out the tangles. Duo usually left the long, single braid in overnight, but he'd decided he wanted to look his best for the first day of school. Duo sat patiently, the only time he ever did was when someone was fixing his hair for him, while Ryou quickly braided it. Finally, they ran out to the family room.

Naaza was setting the table with breakfast and looked at the boys with almost a sneer. "You look foolish."

"Where's mama Sh'ten?" Ryou asked. It was Sh'ten who'd supported Duo when he'd first brought up the subject of going to school so the others had decided that Sh'ten could take care of the details of taking Ryou and Duo back and forth to school.

"I'm right here, but eat something before we go." Sh'ten told him.

"Oh, come on, mama Sh'ten!" Duo was nearly begging, as he knew the minutes were ticking away. "We have to go, I don't want to be late!"

"Don't call me mama." Sh'ten told them out of reflex.

Rajura walked in just then and fixed his one good eye on his younger brothers. "Do as Sh'ten says, boys. You don't want to faint in the middle of class because you haven't eaten. Now that would be embarrassing."

Duo didn't need any more convincing and had eagerly sat down to eat as much as his stomach could hold.

Ryou rolled his eyes and quickly sat down at the low table, crossing his legs on the floor with the others. He ate quickly, but not so much as Duo who nearly choked himself on the food several times, and finally stood up while Sh'ten was still slowly eating.

Duo and Ryou stood impatiently, Duo tapping his foot, sure that mama Sh'ten was doing it on purpose! "Come on, mama Sh'ten!" Duo yelled. "We'll get in trouble if we're late!"

"That's true." Anubisu agreed. "When I was mortal, I went to school and if a student was late, they were whipped."

Ryou paled at the thought. Whipped?

"True." Rajura agreed. "I remember once having to run three miles as a punishment in school."

Three miles?

"I never went to school." Naaza commented, "But I did see children often having their knuckles lashed."

Ryou was beginning to think that maybe this school thing wasn't such a good idea, even if Duo didn't seem bothered. "Um," Ryou started. "Maybe I should just stay here..."

Mama Sh'ten, finally finished, stood and took Ryou's arm. "Don't listen to them, they're only trying to frighten you. Do you two have everything?"

Duo patted his bag. "Paper, pencils, and some food for lunch. We're all set."

The gate was their only way to the Ningen Sekai, even if they didn't understand how this worked, Ryou and Duo had long ago accepted this as a fact in their lives. They were of the Youja Kai, not the Ningen Sekai. They were only visiting here, so they were not to get involved in the lives of anyone. Friends were all right, but not close friends. No one was supposed to know where they came from, or about where they lived. Rajura had even given them a cover story in case anyone asked about their family.

This time, as the gate was going to be open practically permanently, Sh'ten had set it up in an apartment. The gates were actually in a closet in the apartment, so it could be opened and closed whenever necessary. Sh'ten had rented the apartment, the boys had been told, just so they could use it as a place to put the gate.

"You come straight back here after school." Sh'ten told them seriously after they'd come into the empty apartment. Ryou and Duo were looking around the empty space curiously. "The gate will be open, so you can just walk through. We'll be waiting for you."

Sh'ten-  
Youja Kai-

The four Ma-Sho were in full yoroi on the practice field where they enjoyed fighting each other. However, at that time, they weren't fighting. "They boys will have to be trained fully soon. The war should start any time now." Sh'ten told his brothers. "We want them to be able to defend themselves if the other yoroi bearers manage to get into our world."

"What do we do about Duo?" Rajura asked, worried. "He's no yoroi bearer, so he's going to be defenseless when we're away fighting for Emperor Arago."

Naaza laughed. "You really do care about the boy, no matter how much you deny it, don't you, Rajura?"

Rajura sniffed and turned away, as dignified as he could.

"I wouldn't worry about Duo." Naaza said. "I rather think the boy is smart enough to take care of himself and he is trained to use the scythe."

"Emperor Arago will want to see Ryou soon." Anubisu said, bringing them all back to the harsh reality of having the children live with them. "Ryou won't like it." He said, remembering the fires that constantly burned in their lord's throne room.

"He'll have to live with it." Sh'ten tried to sound cold. "It is our duty and honor to fight of Emperor Arago. We will take the Ningen Sekai and conquer everyone on it. Ryou and Duo will both help and they'll learn to be proud to be with us. Ryou's fear of fire will have to be overcome. The yoroi will come to him very soon, and he won't have a choice. The boys will help us. After all, we're their family." Though he spoke confidently, there was something in his heart that betray him. He knew this wasn't going to be as easy as it seemed.

Ningen Sekai-  
Touma-

Touma was stargazing, his favorite hobby, the night he found it. It was nearly midnight and Touma kept glancing at his watch. He'd have to get off the roof, soon. Quatre worried so much if he was out too late. The stars called to Touma, though. They were so bright and the clear sky was brilliant with them. It was almost as if he could reach out and touch them.

Above him, just over Orion the archer, a comet with a long, fiery tail shot down to the Earth.

Touma sat up on the rooftop, shocked. Nothing had been in the reports of a comet that night! What a great night and, if Touma had seen correctly, it had landed in the woods near the house. Touma couldn't help but smile. Yes, Quatre would yell at him if he found out, but he was fast asleep. Touma hopped up and climbed up to the window of his bedroom, determined to find out if anything of the space rock had survived the impact.

With a flashlight and nothing else, Touma took off into the forest. It wasn't too hard to find, really. A large crater had opened up in the earth and, at the center, was the space object. Touma climbed down into the crater, scanning the area with his flashlight until he caught a gleam of something, like a tiny star, sitting in the dust.

"Yes!" Touma shouted happily. It was his first discovery, his own find! Touma rushed over to the shining thing in the dirt and found a small, perfectly round crystal. "What the Hell?" After dusting the crystal off, Touma saw on the inside of the crystal was marked, Wisdom, in Kanji. There is no way that thing could have come from space! It was impossible.

For one thing, it was cool, almost cold, to the touch, it should be burning hot. It had to be man made! 'But,' Touma thought as he looked up at the sky, 'I know it came from space. I saw it.'

Touma thought about it for some time, still on his knees in the crater, and finally gave the mystery up for the night. He slipped the crystal into his pocket, where it would be safe. There was no question about throwing it away or giving it up to any kind of scientific study. It was special.

Time to go home. The first day of a new school year was just a few hours away.

Continued... 


	7. First Touch

Chapter 6: First Touch

Seiji-

Seiji's garden had become quite beautiful in the past few weeks that he'd been at home. Seiji looked around it with pride, taking in the flowers that were just starting to go past their prime and the small fountain that trickled water constantly. There was a bird feeder to attract the song birds and even Luc commented the other day that was like it had been when their mother had been alive.

"She'd be so proud of you." Luc told Seiji. "This garden had always been her pride and joy. She used to work out here for hours to get everything just right. If she knew you spent your time here, too, I think she'd be very happy."

The praise felt odd. He barely remembered his parents, so he couldn't get too worked up about pleasing them. It made him much happier to know that Luc was pleased with him. He wanted very much to please Luc and it was because of that that Seiji stopped his routine of gardening all morning. He was going to school today, Luc had told him.

Before he'd been taken away by doctor J Seiji had gone to school, but he really couldn't remember any of it. The only education he'd ever had was what doctor J had given him and Seiji dearly hope normal school wasn't like that. No matter how happy it made Luc, Seiji was sure he wouldn't be able to deal with that sort of training again.

Luc had given Seiji a dark blue uniform and a bag with books in it and she had tried to explain to him what school would be like. "Lots of people there." She said with a bright smile. "You'll make friends, I'm sure. The classes might be hard, but you were always so bright. I don't think you have anything to worry about and even if you do, I'm on leave from work so I'll give you a helping hand. You might get lost or turned around, it's a pretty big building. I went to visit when I signed you up. Just make friends and they'll help you out."

'What do I care? I will do this because I know it will please Luc. Perhaps I will learn something while I am there. So long as I can come back to my garden, I will do as Luc wishes.' Seiji was crouched down, so as to not get his new school uniform dirty, and dug in the soil with a spade, turning the earth so he could plant some new seeds later. As Seiji dug turned the dirt, something shining caught his eye, something partly hidden under the plants. When Seiji picked it up he found it was a gleaming green orb. It was a tiny, perfectly round crystal with the kanji symbol for courtesy in the center of it.

The minute Seiji touched it, he knew that it was special. There was no logical reason for any of it, but Seiji knew he had to keep the crystal. A word echoed in Seiji's mind, a word from a dream he'd once had. Korin.

"Seiji!" Luc called from the driveway, distracting Seiji's attention away from the orb. "Time to go!"

Seiji stared at Luc, leaning against her bright green car, and he wanted to do well. He wanted to do just as she hoped he would do because that would please her. He had to please her. If she wasn't pleased, perhaps she would send him away. Or maybe she would just leave and not come back. It was clear that their home meant nothing to her. She lived in an apartment somewhere and only moved back into the house because Seiji was there. If he was stupid in school or did anything to shame her, Seiji just knew she'd leave.

He slipped the tiny orb into his pocket before he stood and went to Luc.

Noin-

Noin thought of herself as Noin, it wasn't just a nickname, anymore. When she'd been younger, everyone had called her Lucy (a name she absolutely hated), short for Lucrecia, except for Seiji who'd always called her Luc. When their parents had died, Noin had changed. She gave up many dreams she'd had and walled in depression for a very long time. Even Zechs called her Noin and she was closer to him than anyone else in the world.

"What?" Zechs never answered the phone like other people.

"Hey." She smiled just to hear his voice. "Look, I'm almost ready to come back to work. Can I have a few more days off to see Seiji's properly settled in school?"

"Of course." Zechs had always been kind to her. He went out of his way to be good to her. "Has anything else happened with him? Any more strange powers? More incidents of healing?"

"Not that I've seen. You haven't told Treize, have you? I'll hold by my word and skin you alive if you have."

"I sweat to it. Your brother's secret is safe with me, even though Seiji didn't seem to care one way or the other who saw him."

"Well, I care. Anyway, he seems happy enough. He's spent most of his time playing in the garden. I think he likes getting his hands dirty."

Zechs laughed on the other end of the phone. "There's nothing wrong with that. Has he told you anything about who took him?"

"No. Not a word and I'm afraid to push too much. I'm hoping that he'll adjust to school well and start relaxing. Maybe it's me. Maybe I remind him too much of the past. Maybe he blames me for not coming to get him."

"Now stop that!" Zechs reprimanded harshly. "I won't have you doing that to yourself! No matter what he thinks, you did nothing wrong. It wasn't your fault."

"I know, I know. I just wish he'd talk to me."

"He will. Just give it time. He's about fifteen, isn't he?"

"Huh? Yeah. Almost sixteen. Why?"

"Have you thought about having him enlist?"

Noin blinked at the wall, as if that might give her the answer for Zechs' strange question. "He's too young." She stepped to the left and looked out the window to see Seiji still toiling away in the garden. His mop of long blonde hair moved every time he moved. "Zechs, he's playing in the garden right now. He's no soldier. Far, far too young."

"For active duty, yes. However, OZ has been known to take exceptional young people on early for training with permission from their guardians. You are his guardian."

It actually wasn't a bad idea. If Seiji became part of OZ Noin could know he was being taken care of no matter where she was for duty. She could have him moved to Lake Victoria for the remainder of his childhood. At least there, she knew he wouldn't get into trouble. Still, that would mean that one day Seiji would enter the military and, perhaps, see active duty. Noin wasn't sure she liked that at all. "I'll think on it. Thanks for everything, Zechs. I really appreciate it."

"My pleasure. Shall I call on you tonight?"

Noin had to laugh. "Sorry. Really. You sound like an old fashioned suitor."

"I assure you I didn't mean it like that." One could practically see him blushing.

"Yeah. I know. See you tonight, then." Noin hung up, but she was smiling. Talking with Zechs always made her feel better. Even on the worst day of her life, he'd somehow managed to make things a little better.

It was shortly after she'd met Zechs and after her parents had died that Noin had started calling herself Noin, insisting that everyone call her that. She wanted no part of the painful memories her true name, Date, brought back.

It had occurred to her when Seiji had first arrived that she should tell him to call her Noin, also. Looking at his sad, lonely face had made Noin keep her mouth closed on that subject. "Luc." That was the first word he'd said when she'd found in the dilapidated dojo and he rarely ever said more than that. Even after being at home for several weeks, he would sit quietly in the garden and just watch what was going on around him. It would have been shameful to take away the only thing that seemed to remain of his life before he was kidnapped and her nickname seemed to be that one thing. He'd admitted to having trouble remembering their family and even the house. Why confuse him or hurt him by making him call her by a different name?

Noin waited for Seiji as long as she could before it was time to take him to school. She waited for him patiently by her car and thought about him. It had been hard to take her mind off him since he'd come back. It made her sick to think of what might have been done to him while he was gone. Worse, he wouldn't tell her anything and it seemed to Noin that if he wouldn't talk about it, especially to her, then whatever he'd gone through must have been nightmarish. Otherwise, why would her little brother keep such secrets? No. Not her little brother. Younger brother was closer to the mark. Seiji may be younger by almost six years, he was only fifteen, but he was several inches taller than she was. He had been though something terrible and God help whoever had done it when she ever found them!

"Seiji!" She called, finally. This was going to be his first day of high school and she prayed that it would go wonderfully for him. It was a vain hope, though. She knew most normal kids had horrible first days of high school and Seiji was far from normal.

Seiji came promptly at her call, impeccably dressed in the uniform she'd bought for him with the book bag held in one hand. His hair, as usual, hung over the ruined side of his face and the eye someone had stolen from him. His hair had been long when Noin had found him in the dusty dojo, but she'd cut it short enough that it didn't even touch his shoulders. The front of his hair, Noin had left long to cover his mangled face and at least save him from a few unkind stares. Seiji walked briskly over to her and stood stiffly, as if he were awaiting inspection and approval.

"You look great, Seiji. Are you ready?" She said with forced cheerfulness. He did look very good, but he didn't quite look real, more like a machine that was dressed up or a pretty porcelain doll. The perfection would end the minute a soft breeze brushed the hair away from his face. Noin really didn't want Seiji to know that she was so worried about him.

"Yes." He nodded crisply.

"Well, hop in." She motioned to the car, the bright green love of her life. "I'll give you a lift until you learn your way to school. It's not too far away, maybe a half an hour's walk. Don't suppose you want to get dropped off every day like you were a child, eh? Once you learn the way, you can walk like everyone else." But what happened when her leave of absence ended? It wasn't as if she could leave him alone. He barely knew enough to eat properly. The first time Noin hadn't been paying attention, Seiji had gone two days without eating because she hadn't told him to. "Or, if you like, we'll get the school bus to pick you up."

If Seiji had any preference one way or the other, he didn't show it. He just nodded to show he understood and fell still again.

Noin was, even she would admitted, a little enthusiastic about driving. If she hadn't started working for OZ, she probably would have been a race car driver. Unfortunately, her lead foot had earned her numerous speeding tickets and a good number of close calls. Seiji took her speeding and seemingly careless driving habits without a word of complaint. He just sat there, his hands resting easily on his book bag. Noin almost laughed at how well he was taking it. Even sweet Zechs, who was so calm-natured and terribly brave, had been known to swear when she was driving and cling helplessly to his seat belt. He'd given up on riding with her and had been insisting that he drive if they were going anywhere.

Noin shook her head, so worried about Seiji. His good looks were enough to earn him enemies, Seiji was almost angelic looking in Noin's opinion and she was his sister! The girls would love him too much and the boys would hate him for getting all the attention. There was something about Seiji that made Noin have no doubt that Seiji could fight and take care of himself when it came to fights, but it was the girls that worried her. They would expect too much out of him and be bitter if he didn't know how to respond to their advances.

Then there was Seiji's odd behavior. Teenagers were notorious for singling out the "odd" ones in school and doing their very best to make life Hell for them. The worst thing that could happen, though, would be when someone happened to see passed his hair and see what remained of his eye. They would see how disfigured he was and Seiji would never hear the end of it! Thankfully, Zechs had promised to talk to some people he knew, probably Treize, about getting a glass eye at the very least and maybe even a cybernetic eye, something that could work as a real eye and feed information to his brain.

She just didn't know if Seiji were strong enough to hold up under all the pressure that would be waiting for him at the seemingly innocent school. By the time the school came into sight, Noin was thinking that perhaps she'd made the wrong choice and that she should have kept Seiji at home a while longer, just to get him used to living at home again. Maybe this was too big a step for him, too soon. Just as she was convincing herself that she should turn right around and go back, they pulled up to the school and Seiji was already undoing his seatbelt. There was no going back.

"You have the number where you can reach me, Seiji." Noin said. "Call me if you need anything or even if you just want to go home. Okay?"

Seiji nodded, curtly as always.

Noin knew that, like most everything he did, Seiji was doing this to please her. If she let him have his own way, Seiji would probably never leave the house, content to sit in the garden he was slowly bringing back to life. He was going to school because she'd told him he needed it and he knew it would please her if he went along with the idea.

"Well, good luck." Noin kissed him on the cheek for luck.

Seiji nodded again and was about to open the door when he paused and looked back at her. "Luc, where's grandfather Date?"

Noin froze. "What?"

"Where is grandfather Date? The family shrine was for mother and father, but I saw no picture of grandfather. Is he dead?"

Noin wasn't quite sure how to answer this one. It had been almost a month, though, and Seiji had to find out sometime, right? "I'll tell you after school, Seiji. Just worry about making new friends, all right?"

"Yes, Luc." He got out of the car and made his way through the throng of students all drifting into school. On his way, Seiji passed a boy with blue hair walking with a blonde. How strange it seemed to have two blondes in one school full of black hair. Then again, the blue hair was odd, too.

Noin sighed and wanted to cry at the thought of her grandfather. How would Seiji react?

Ryou-

Ryou wasn't very happy with being in the Ningen Sekai in the first place, but Duo had wanted him to go and he'd do anything to make Duo happy. This city was so unlike anything he'd ever seen before, having grown up in the forest and then in the Youja-Kai. There were too many people and too many cars. The air smelled funny and everything was noisy. However, Ryou's anxiety was lessened by Duo's blissful happiness. He was glad that Duo was happy and thought that anything that made Duo happy must be a good thing.

"Are you sure you know the way?" Ryou asked, for the third time since they'd left for the school.

"Gimme a break." Duo didn't so much as glance at the directions mama Sh'ten had written for them. "It's not too far, now. Just relax and enjoy the scenery." He paused to admire a fancy, bright yellow car. "I haven't seen cars in years." Duo almost shouted, swinging his nearly school bag joyfully. It was mama Sh'ten's doing, again. He'd thought to get them notebooks and pencils and given them each a knife to sharpen the pencils with because he couldn't figure out how else to do it and had wondered out loud why no one used ink wells anymore. "This is great! Modern, normal humans." His eyes lit up with utter bliss as they landed on something else he'd been dearly missing. "Look! An ice cream stand!"

Ryou looked at him, confused and maybe just a little hurt. "What? Don't you like our family? Our home?"

"Don't get me wrong. I love you guys and living in a palace is great, but it's nice to see other people for once. Not to mention girls." Duo leered at a couple of pretty young women walking down the streets, but it only earned him an elbow in the ribs from Ryou.

"What are you talking about? Kay's a girl and besides, you're gay. You told me so."

"That doesn't mean I can't like girls, too. As for Kay, she's a sister, so she doesn't count."

Ryou really didn't like the city, the people were too close together, all pushing and shoving, he felt like he was choking when they were pressed in close to him on the sidewalk. It was getting worse as they got closer to the school, other kids, in the same uniforms as Ryou and Duo, were all laughing and shouting, talking to friends. Ryou felt his heart start to pound harder.

Fortunately Duo had obviously seen his panic and took Ryou by the arm. "Are you all right?"

Ryou shook his head and moved closer to Duo. "I...I don't like this. There are too many of them."

"Just a few more blocks then things will get better, I'm sure." Duo told him reassuringly.

Ryou gave Duo a skeptical look, but said nothing. He wasn't convinced that this world would be okay, there were just too many people. He'd rather be out in the forest, playing or hunting. He'd never seen so many people in his whole life! Back at the cabin it had been him and granma. Then his new brothers. Now, there were just people everywhere!

They were almost at the school when something caught Ryou's attention. In an alley an old man with a long staff stood. He stepped out of the shadows of the alley, his long staff jingling with every step, and looked right at Ryou. "I have been waiting for you, Rekka."

Ryou stopped at the voice. The man's voice seemed echoed and sounded deep within his soul. "Who are you?" Ryou asked. He turned to look at Duo, only to find Duo frozen, his mouth half-open, as if saying something and the wind had picked up some of Duo's hair, but it was frozen in mid-air. "Duo?" Ryou was starting to get really worried at this point. "What have you done to Duo?" Ryou turned on the old man with a snarl, his eyes narrowing. "Let him go!" Ryou knew he wasn't brave or very strong, but Duo was his only friend! He would fight the weird old guy for Duo!

"Be at ease, Rekka. I have paused time for the world. Duo will not even be aware that this has happened when I wake him. I have come to see you. I was beginning to fear that you were lost to the darkness."

Ryou frowned. "What are you talking about? My name's Ryou, not Rekka, you must have the wrong guy."

"No. You are both Ryou and Rekka. The darkness that took you years ago will wish to possess your power, you must not return to them. To where you've been lost since the death of your grandmother."

Ryou started, shocked. "How do you know about my granma? What are you after?"

"You." A low, wide hat, concealing most of his face, shaded the old man's face and Ryou was afraid. There was something very wrong with this. If the old man was telling the truth, then he was supposed to stay away from his brothers? No! His brothers would never hurt him.

"Is this a trick or something? Did my oniisan's send you to trick me?" Ryou asked nervously, hoping that this was maybe one of Rajura's tricks.

"It is your own brothers I must guard you from, Ryou. They are the ma-sho of the demon, Arago. They are the forces that would destroy this world and kill everyone."

Ryou almost exploded at this point. "No!" He shouted angrily and balled his hands into fists. "You're lying! My brothers would never do something like that!" Damn the old man for saying such horrible things! Ryou was ready to attack the old man when the old man stepped to the side, revealing a metal oil drum, filled with fire. The blaze was like many that the homeless would use for heat, but it stopped Ryou dead in his tracks. Fire.

Ryou took a step backwards as the fire called to him, beckoning him closer. It would dance for him, it promised. It was singing to him, seeming to wrap its warm fingers around his heart and mind, drawing him in closer. Ryou stepped back again and bumped into something. Looking over his shoulder, Ryou saw that he'd bumped into Duo, still standing still as stone. Duo couldn't help him this time.

"Go to the fire, Rekka. It's calling you."

Ryou shook his head at the freaky old man. "No. No, I don't like fire."

"The truth is, you do like fire, but you are still afraid of it." The old man lowered his staff, pointing it at the fire. "In the fire is a treasure, Rekka, and a curse. You must take it or Duo will never be freed."

"What?"

The old man didn't repeat himself, but stayed still and let Ryou think over his choice. Ryou slowly realized that Duo was depending on him. He couldn't just beat the old man up, Duo would stay frozen forever if he did that. Ryou took a deep breath and stepped forward, closer to the bright, dancing fire. He licked his lips but kept going, past the old man until he was right in front of the fire. Ryou looked in, trying to ignore the voices singing at him, they sounded so beautiful, so right.

In the flames, in the bottom of the oil drum, Ryou could see the flickering image of a small round ball. It was the ball, or whatever it was, that he was supposed to get, right? Ryou closed his eyes for a minute. This was for Duo. All for Duo.

'He'd do it for me.'

Ryou opened his eyes, fast enough that he couldn't change his mind, and plunged his hand into the fire. It didn't hurt, Ryou could only feel the warm licking of the fire, like a cat's tongue on his arm. He found the ball and grabbed it as quickly as he could, jerking out of the fire and stumbling backwards, onto his butt.

"What are you doing?"

Ryou, still panting, and clutching the ball in his fist, looked up to find a perfectly normal Duo looked down at him, curiously. Looking around, Ryou saw the old man was gone and the people on the street were walking along, as if nothing had happened.

"I...the old guy...well..." He looked at Duo. "You mean you didn't see any of it?"

"Any of what? What old man, Ryou?" Duo snorted. "Come on, if you keep fooling around we're going to be late." Duo reached out a hand to help Ryou up with a smile. "I didn't know you were so wound up about this school thing, Ryou. I wouldn't have pushed you to come with me. You don't have to come tomorrow if you don't want to."

Ryou shook his head. "Naw. It's all right." The orb felt warm and safe in his hand as they continued to walk. "I...I feel better now." And strangely, it was true. He felt much better, more confident, but he would have to ask mama about this when he got home. The old man never said who he was, but he'd said Ryou's brothers were evil. That was not true. It was NOT true!

As they walked, Ryou looked down at the little orb in the palm of his hand. Benevolence. The kanji symbol glowed quite clearly in the center of the smoky red orb. It felt as if it was a part of him, but there was still something missing.

The two of them walked into the school, walking as closely together as possible, and even Duo seemed to be getting nervous as they neared their destination.

Next stop, class.

Youja-Kai-  
Byakuen-

The tigers didn't spend all their time at the palace of the demon emperor. When the animal master, Anubisu, didn't call them, they spent much of their time hunting in the vast grasslands of the Youja-Kai. They had been off hunting when they'd realized something had happened. They didn't know what, exactly, but something had happened. It was enough to make Byakuen break off his stalking of his prey and raise his head. Kokuen-Oh raised his head at the same time and looked at Byakuen with troubled eyes.

The palace looked the same when they arrived, with no signs of battle or any kind of distress. Rajura was in the courtyard playing with his weapons and Naaza was swimming in the bathhouse. Sh'ten was writing bad poetry in the family's shared room. The family seemed fine, though there were two who were missing. Byakuren and Kokuen-Oh searched the palace, sniffing here and there, before they realized what it was that was wrong. Two of the cubs were gone. Gone!

Byakuen roared a complaint as soon as they realized the problem.

Almost instantly, Anubisu was in front of them. "What is it?" He asked, sounding irritated. "I'm in the middle of something."

Kokuen-Oh was the one who stepped closer to Anubisu to ask where they cubs were. Both great tiger demons had become attached to our two cubs since Anubisu had brought them to watch over the cubs and to find them just gone was unnerving to say the least. Infuriating to be perfectly honest.

"Oh," Anubisu replied. "The cubs went to school, to learn to be with other cubs. They will come back later. Just relax until they come back." He vanished, as he often did, and the two tiger demons were left alone in one of the palace's corridors.

Byakuen and Kokuen-Oh looked at each other, thinking the same thing. The cubs were too young to look after themselves, so they would have to go after them and see that they were as safe as Anubisu claimed.

It was quite simple to follow the scent trail back to the room where the humans customarily ate their meals and to the two red columns that were markers for the gateway. Byakuen wasn't sure what a gateway was, but the humans spoke of them often. The cubs must have gone through the gateway and the tiger demons would follow. Just as Byakuen was about to step through, something pulled at his tail. Byakuen growled as he turned around, thinking it was Kokuen-Oh playing tricks again, but it was Kay who stood there, smiling at Byakuen with her little hand wrapped around his tail.

"Where are you going, Yaku-chan?" She'd gotten that name from Ryou, something Byakuen wasn't sure he approved of.

Byakuen looked at the gate, showing her where they were going.

"Can I come, too?"

Well, why not? ANY OBJECTIONS? Byakuen asked Kokuen-Oh.

NONE. SHE'LL BE SAFE ENOUGH WITH US.

Byakuen nudged against Kay and she got the point, climbing onto his back. Together, they all walked through the gate into the unknown world.

Earth-  
Quatre-

Quatre was looking at the screen of his computer and rested his chin on his hands, the image of the immense robot panning up and down. It was magnificent. A glorious achievement for science and the engineers who'd built it. It's purpose was monstrously regrettable, Quatre knew, but just the fact that something so powerful had been built was awe inspiriting. "Is Sandrock ready, Professor H?"

The man on the other end of the link was several million miles away, at a base in outer space, and looked back at Quatre with a smug expression. "Nearly, Quatre, nearly. We must wait a little longer before you can put your training into practice. Keep up the computer studies that I send for you and, of course, the technical work, for now. As soon as the Gundam is complete I will send for you to get you familiar with the operations of it. How are your lessons with that friend of yours, Rashid, I believe you said his name was."

Quatre's smile didn't falter, but he suddenly wasn't so pleased. "Who told you about Rashid?"

"Does that matter? He is giving you combat training, isn't he? Training that other boy, too."

Professor H could know about Rashid, after all, Rashid had part custody of Quatre. It was for legal purposes when he was on Earth and not really a secret. Still, Quatre was sure he hadn't told professor H and he knew he hadn't mentioned Touma at all. Perhaps doctor H was bold enough to spy on him?

Quatre smiled brightly and kept his suspicions to himself. "Oh, they're both fine. Rashid is a great fighter and he's teaching me everything he knows, so I'm a pretty good hand to hand fighter. My brother is helping me with school so I'm barging ahead there, too."

Professor H had approached him two years ago about becoming the pilot of a Gundam for the freedom of the colonies and Quatre had agreed, somewhat reluctantly at first. But, as he'd thought over the offer, Quatre's mind began to turn over and over all of the possibilities that this situation offered. Terrorism. Intrigue. War.

Yes, the potential for fun was almost unlimited.

Suddenly, Quatre noticed the clock on the wall. He would have to think about professor H's nosy inclinations later. Most likely, it was nothing to be worried about. Security was very high around the Gundam projects, after all. They were probably just researching Quatre's connections. "Sorry, but I have to go now, professor H. It's time for school."

Professor H didn't wait to say any good-byes before he disconnected the line and Quatre found himself staring at his reflection in the blank computer monitor.

"You're starting to puzzle me, professor." Quatre said to himself. "Spying? What else have you been up to? You and those others?" He stood up and walked calmly out of his room in Rashid's home, then went to the room right next to his and thumped on the door. "Touma, time to wake up!" School didn't actually start for almost two hours, but it was a war just waking up Touma. He had time to go have a cup of coffee and have the servants start breakfast and then go give Touma another wake up call.

An hour and a half and three cups of coffee later-

"Touma! Wake up!" Quatre banged his fist against the door of his brother's bedroom, hoping to wake him up before they had to be at school. This wouldn't be the first time they were late because of Touma's oversleeping. Not once in all the years they'd been living together had Touma gotten up on time. "It's time for school!"

A groggy voice, finally, muttered something obscene through the door at him.

Quatre rolled his eyes. "I'm going to get the bucket of ice water!"

"I'm up, I'm up!" Touma shouted back, though still sounding half-asleep. "Relax, Kitty."

What an awful nickname. Still, it was Touma who'd thought it up and Quatre was forgiving enough that he let it pass. Only from Touma, though. Honestly, someone had to do it, eventually. It was only a short hop from Quatre to Quat then to Kitty. "You'd better be up, the ice water's right out here and I'll douse you if you're not downstairs in five minutes. Xiu and Wufei and going to be here in any minute."

Quatre left at that point as the doorbell rang, but by the time he'd gotten down to the front door, one of the servants had let their guests in. It was the usual sight that Quatre had missed over the summer. Xiu in a rumpled, worn uniform and Wufei in his freshly ironed one both waiting at the foot of the stairs like mismatched bookends. They were so incredibly different for cousins.

"May I presume that Touma is still getting up?" Wufei asked redundantly. They all knew Touma wouldn't be ready until the last minute.

"He's making an effort, yes."

Wufei nodded, accepting the fact where he'd usually fuss and splutter about how lazy and weak Touma was.

"You're in a good mood." Quatre commented. "What's happening?"

Wufei and Xiu smiled at the same time. "Two weeks to go." Was all Wufei said.

"Two weeks?"

Xiu spoke up. "Yep. He's going back to A0206 in two weeks to get hitched." Xiu grinned proudly and gave his cousin a slap on the back. "He's even invited my family to come with him to the ceremony."

"Are you quite sure about this, Wufei?" Quatre asked, sitting down in his living room and motioning for the others to do the same. "I still think you're too young. You're only fifteen, after all."

Wufei replied, proudly arrogant. "We keep different customs on A0206. Meiran and I have been married since we were three years old. This is just completing the ceremony."

Xiu nodded, confirming. "That's right. Weird, but it's true. I'm just glad mama didn't do that to me. I'd be scared to death to marry some girl like that." Xiu frowned.

Wufei disagreed. "It doesn't matter what she's like, you must marry her for the honor of your family if nothing else."

"Oh yeah," Touma, now standing in the doorway with his school bag slung over his shoulder, said. "That's real logical. Get chained to someone you can't stand for the rest of your life. Very intelligent. I'm sure that often makes for a very happy marriage." Touma had some pretty strong convictions of many things. One of those things was Wufei's impending wedding. Everyone knew about it as Wufei made sure to brag about it as often as possible.

"What's logic got to do with it?" Xiu asked. "Come on, lazy bones. Gotta get to school."

Touma gave him an amused look. "Since when did you get so caught up in the school spirit?"

"Didn't, but I heard there's a couple of new kids starting and I wanted to see them. Come on!"

At school-

The two new students were standing at the head of the class with the teacher, as was custom for new students when they were about to be introduced. One could be mistaken for a girl, if he were seen only from the back. His hair was longer than any boy's Quatre had ever met and he was very thin. His face was obviously a boy's face, though. The other boy looked a bit more weary and kept looking around as if he were looking for an escape route.

The teacher happy introduced them, smiling particularly at the nervous boy as if she would reassure him that everything was alright. "These are your new class mates, Sanada Ryou and Duo Maxwell. Boys, please find seats and make yourselves comfortable. I hope you'll enjoy your new class."

Quatre watched the two search the room before finding the two empty seats. Duo, the one with an incredibly long braid, bounced over to one seat, which just happened to be next to Quatre, Ryou went to sit near the window, but looked over at Duo sadly. There was some connection between the two, obviously.

"Hi!" Duo said pleasantly, waving a hand in front of Quatre. "Nice to meet you. What's your name? I'm glad to be here." He was speaking quite loudly, almost as if he didn't know he was supposed to be quite in school.

"Please, call me Quatre." Quatre replied, casting a nervous look at the teacher who had given Duo a sour look to quiet him. At this point, another new student walked in, another boy, and handed a note to the teacher without a word. He stood stiffly at attention, his arms hanging down at his sides. The most amazing thing, to Quatre's, was that this new student was blonde, just like Quatre himself! He almost smiled. It was wonderful to find another blonde in this country where he stuck out like a sore thumb.

Finally, the teacher looked at her class. "Everyone, we have another new student. Please welcome Date Seiji. Mr. Date, there's a seat next to Ryou." She pointed to the one empty seat. The new guy nodded stiffly and went to where he'd been told to go.

Quatre watched as Ryo said something softly, almost whispering, and held out a welcoming hand. Seiji stared at the hand for a moment before taking it and both froze, staring at each other with wide, surprised eyes. Quatre smiled.

How cute to fall in love so quickly.

Ryou-

'I can see his mind. I can see Seiji's memory. What's happening to me!'

Seiji's memory-

'I'm so scared. I don't want to be here! Please let me go home.' That was what Seiji thought every night, but it never happened. As always, they locked him in the little room and turned the lights out, sealing him in the prison of darkness…alone. This night, however, something different happened. He was six at this time, and had been prisoner of the mysterious doctor J for more than five months.

Seiji lay in the darkness, the sheets of his narrow bed, pulled up over his head, as if that could protect him from the dark. There was no sound in the darkness, that was normal for this place. No sound ever after the door was locked. Seiji could still remember the birds singing outside his window when he went to sleep at home.

Seiji tried not to be afraid, but it was hard. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine he was in the garden at home. Full of flowers and the warm sun, but it was getting hard to remember. He'd been in this place for so long.

The lock was turned, sounding horribly loud to Seiji, and the door opened, shedding a soft light from the hall into the room. Seiji slowly poked his head over the covers of his blanket and saw doctor J standing in the doorway with another little boy held by the wrist. Doctor J turned the lights on before walking in, pulling the boy with him.

The boy was very thin, almost starved looking with narrow, angry eyes and shaggy brown hair.

"Hiro," Doctor J started using Seiji's code name, the name Seiji hated. "This is Heero. He's going to live with you and be your partner when you go into battle. You will train together and when you are put into action, you will fight together." Doctor J gave Heero a little push toward Seiji's bed. "Make room, Hiro. I'll have another bed in here someday. Until then, you're sharing."

Doctor J left the room, leaving Heero just standing there, glaring at Seiji. The silence went on for sometime, until Seiji gave in and threw back the sheets of the bed. Seiji patted the bed beside him, inviting Heero in. There was no choice.

Heero crossed his arms over his chest and glared, but once the lights went out again, Seiji felt the bed shift slightly and knew Heero was in with him. The two boys covered themselves and tried to get comfortable in the bed that was made for one very small person, not two growing boys. They ended up with Seiji curled around Heero, his arms almost hugging the smaller boy.

"My name's not Heero." The other boy said quietly.

Seiji knew what he was talking about. "My name's not Hiro." It was very important that they save their identity, even if it was so little a thing as a name. Seiji had been desperately holding onto the name for a very long time, and he wondered if Heero would tell him his name. "How'd you get here?"

Seiji felt Heero shrug in the darkness. "I fell asleep and when I woke up, the guy I lived with was selling me to that freaky doctor." Heero sniffed and Seiji wondered if Heero was crying. "I'll just kill him if I ever see him again." Heero yawned. "At least now I have someone to talk to."

"That's true." Seiji smiled. Maybe this won't be so bad with a friend at least. Both boys fell asleep in the darkness, and Seiji was comforted by the fact that he could feel Heero's heart beating where his hand was on Heero's chest. Seiji smiled before he fell asleep, with his nose in Heero's hair. It felt so good to be with someone who wasn't going to hurt him.

They liked each other very much, Heero and Seiji. They got on very well, even to the point that they didn't have to speak to understand each other, which was lucky as Dr. J seemed to disapprove of talking and they could only do that in private at night. They even fought well together.

One night when they were nine, everything changed. The two boys were sound asleep when they heard the door open and the sounds of people walking into the room. They both woke quickly when they heard the door open, but the light never came on, so they didn't know what was going on.

Suddenly, Heero was jerked violently out of the bed. "What!" He cried out, frightened. "You're hurting me, leggo!"

Seiji heard a slap, and a man snarl, "Shut up, kid."

Seiji, quick to help his partner, jumped up to defend Heero, but another person pushed him back onto the bed. "Stay where you are, Hiro. You don't want to get involved in this." It was a deeper voice that said this. Seiji didn't want to listen, he only knew that Heero was in trouble and that if he could see what was happening he could help. Seiji pushed himself off the bed again, as Heero shouted,

"Help me!"

Seiji was afraid, but not more so than he usually was. They were always hurting the boys, always for some reason or another. But, this was the time when they were usually safe, the night was supposed to be the time when they could rest. This time, the man took Seiji by the collar and threw him hard against a wall and Seiji's vision blurred before going black entirely.

Later, Seiji woke up in the darkness with the sound of Heero crying. Seiji blinked and pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. "Heero? Where are you?" He started crawling around, not sure if those men were still here or not. "I'm coming, Heero."

"Here." Came the choked sob.

Seiji was worried when he heard that. Heero never cried. Even when they were beaten for some mistake, Heero would never cry. Seiji crawled to where he'd heard the voice and his hand bumped into Heero's ankle.

"Stop!" Heero screamed, terrified. Seiji stopped instantly, not knowing what had happened. Heero's scream turned into crying again.

"Heero? Please let me help. I don't know what's going on." Seiji said, practically begging.

"I want to go to bed. Help me."

"Sure. What did they do to you, Heero?" Seiji felt his way to Heero's arm and helped pull his friend to his feet. Together, they stumbled to the bed and Seiji lay Heero down first.

"I hurt, Seiji. I hurt all over."

Seiji put his hands on Heero's chest, but couldn't feel any blood. He searched with his hands in the pitch darkness, but still couldn't find any wounds of any kind or even any blood. The only odd thing was that Heero wasn't wearing his clothes anymore. It wouldn't have been the first time that one of them had been nearly killed, but why had they taken Heero's clothes?

"I can't find anything, Heero. What did they hurt?"

"Everything."

Seiji cuddled Heero that night. Held his friend so tightly he was almost afraid that he'd hurt Heero, but he was afraid. He didn't understand what was wrong with Heero and this was all he could do, so Seiji just held on as tightly as he could.

Ryou blinked and found himself pulling away from Seiji's hand, both ashamed and frightened of what he'd seen. That sort of thing was private. He shouldn't have seen it.

Seiji-

Their hands touched and Seiji saw Ryou's life. Ryou's whole life in an instant flash in Seiji's mind was forever etched into Seiji's mind.

The fear Ryou had felt when the fire he'd created had killed his grandmother and the guilt of surviving the fire that had taken her life. The hunger of living alone in the mountains. He'd hunted for food, trying to use traps and snares to catch small animals to eat, though he'd eat them raw. He had to. To cook, Ryou would have to use fire and that he wouldn't do. Seiji saw Ryou's terror at the men who'd caught him alone and held the struggling boy while they talked amongst themselves. He'd almost used the fire to get rid of them, but he was afraid he wouldn't be able to control it again.

They'd taken him to the government and then to the orphanage where he'd met Duo, the kind soul who'd taken him under his wing. Other, happier, images of Ryou playing in a fantasy landscape that couldn't possibly be real. No such place could be real. Men with unreal weapons and a castle with endless corridors and a maze guarding the castle, set to confuse any would be invaders. Being trained in strange, archaic weapons and learning to read by the light of a candle, not lamps or any modern lights.

"Keep your arm up!" The man with green hair, Naaza, shouted, bringing one of his swords down on Ryou's head. Ryo only barely managed to block it in time. "Keep yourself guarded, boy, or I'll catch Hell from Sh'ten about hurting one of his babies!" Naaza swung his other sword, almost catching Ryou off guard while Duo burst into laughter from where he watched the training.

"Go, Ryou!" He shouted. "You can do it! Kick his butt!"

"You're next." Naaza shouted in warning to Duo. The battle continued, but Seiji knew they were not really trying to hurt each other. This was training. Naaza knew exactly when to stop and Ryou had unshakable faith in his older brother.

Seiji knew that Naaza was not Ryou's brother, but he had adopted both Ryou and Duo along with three other men whom Ryou thought of as his brothers. The memories flashed again, showing Seiji another place and another person with Ryou.

"Ryou, come on, you can do this." A red haired man Seiji knew as Sh'ten, coaxed. They weren't in a courtyard, but in Sh'ten chambers, sitting at a large desk.

"But, mama Sh'ten, reading is just to hard! I don't get it!" Ryou said, glaring at the parchment scrolls in front of him. Not books as most people would have, but newly written parchments.

"Only because you need practice. Just look at Duo, he's a fine reader."

This made Ryou even more upset. "Duo's smarter than I am. Can't I just go back to weapon's training with Rajura?" Ryou just wanted to throw the whole parchment out the window and have done with it.

"No." Sh'ten said with finality in his voice. "I won't have you living as a brainless fool for the rest of your life! You will learn to read, even if it kills you."

Other scenes of Ryou playing with an immense white tiger and another boy, Duo, riding on the back of a black tiger on a large, empty plain. The moon over head was huge, impossibly huge and the sky was purple with no stars over head.

Not possible, but Ryou believed absolutely. This was his life, where he'd come from. Perhaps he was mad, driven to insanity by the death of his grandmother.

Seiji pulled away and his mind separated itself from Ryou's.

End memories-

Slowly, the two parted, their hands drawing apart and growing aware of the classroom they were in. They were no longer in the past, reliving them, but they still remembered.

They understood each other. Totally and completely, they understood each other. Ryou was shaking and Seiji looked a little wild around the eye. What had just happened? Ryou worried because Seiji now knew about his firepower and where he came from. Mama had said not to tell anyone where he came from.

Seiji worried about what Ryou would do now that he knew Seiji's past, the past he'd kept hidden even from his sister. Would Ryou turn him in, would someone take him back to doctor J? That would not be allowed.

Duo-

Duo watched as Ryou shook the blonde's hand. He looked shocked for a minute, then managed a weak smile. What coincidence that they should meet him again and they'd both started on the first day and all. Poor Ryou was obviously head over heels for the guy, even though they'd only known each other for a few minutes. That handshake had taken almost a minute and they'd stared at each other so intently.

Duo shook his head. He would have to remember to ask Ryou about the guy at lunch and see if he was nice at all. Blondes just weren't Duo's cup of tea and his mind floated back to the guy he'd dreamed about, the one with the serious blue eyes. If only he could meet that guy.

Heero-

Outside the school, Heero waited patiently in the tall tree. He had easily managed to escape the hospital earlier in the week. Finding Hiro, his former partner, had proved only slightly more difficult than he'd expected. He'd managed to track Hiro to this school and he was certain that if he waited long enough he'd find the target. Hiro was his first assignment. Find or eliminate.

Seiji had told Heero his true name after they'd been teamed up for quite a while and they'd learned to depend on each other. Trust had been hard to build, but they'd managed it eventually. He was Seiji, now. Not Hiro.

Heero's mobile suit had been destroyed when he'd come to Earth by the Alliance, but he'd managed to survive and woke up in a hospital, guarded by several men who were obviously military, wearing the uniform of the Alliance soldiers. After killing them, his escape had been simple.

Heero held his gun loosely in one hand; its weight was a great comfort to him and helped to keep his mind on business. Seiji had escaped and doctor J knew he was to valuable to lose, but he was also a security risk. Seiji knew where the hidden base was and he knew all the training that was going on. If Seiji went to the authorities of Earth and reported what he knew, they'd be shut down before they could even start the war.

Seiji had escaped weeks ago and so far had done no damage, simply gone into hiding. Heero, strangely, found himself angry with Seiji. They'd been close when they were younger, close enough to be almost family, but it didn't last long. Looking back, Heero knew that it was only the circumstances that had made them friends. They had no one else and had been literally thrown together.

For some reason, they'd been split up only two years later, when they were both nine. Heero had never been told the reason and after that day he hadn't seen Seiji. Still, even if they hadn't been together in so long, why did Seiji not even make an attempt at rescuing Heero?

'My partner.' Heero thought. 'Why did you abandon me? Why did you leave me behind?'

To be continued... 


	8. I Am A Rock

"I am a rock" song was done by Simon and Garfunkel.

Chapter 7: I AM A ROCK

He sat on a high branch of an old tree just outside the fence that surrounded the high school and watched. He was good at watching. Sitting motionless for hours was something that took no effort or thought. All he had to do was watch. The computer told Heero that his partner would be at the school, so at the school he would be. It was logical and Heero liked logic. It was easy with no confusion.

So, to aid in his logic, Heero kept the little computer with him all the time. If there were ever a problem, the laptop could be counted on to provide the answer.

'You aren't helping much now, though, are you?' Heero ran his fingers over the surface of the closed laptop, but didn't look down at it. He kept his eyes trained on the school, determined to catch a glimpse of golden hair. 'You led me here, then stopped. Hardly fair.' But he knew it wasn't the laptop's fault. It was Hiro's fault. He'd gotten into the system and block Heero.

The system.

It was what he and Hiro had always called the great network on computers that linked nearly everyone on the planet and in space. It was such an easy system to manipulate once one understood how it ran. Heero understood it perfectly. It was like breathing for him. Logical and without the cumbersome baggage of emotional drivel that came of dealing with people.

Heero frowned when a small branch of the tree he was perched in was moved by a breeze and nearly struck him in the face. Earth was like this all the time, he'd found. Wind and rain and strange smells. At least the sun was reassuring. It was regular. Always perfectly timed and always right where it should be. Not like the annoying weather or fickle people.

Earth, Heero had decided on his second day after landing, was nothing but trouble. Bee stings and lightening storms, mud and little old ladies giving him funny looks. It was all nothing but trouble. Heero most definitely didn't like Earth. Even if the trees were rather pretty when the sunlight filtered through their branches. He liked trees. Earth and people were trouble, but he liked the trees.

Heero mentally slapped himself and brought himself back to reality. He had no reason to be thinking such ideal, romanticized thoughts. He was on a mission.

"Retrieve or destroy." That had been doctor J's last order as Heero had strapped himself into the cockpit of Wing Zero. With his half-human face twisted up in anger, doctor J had jabbed his walking stick meaningfully at Heero. "Bring him back or kill the ingrate. Too many secrets are locked in that little head of his. He's too dangerous to the mission. He can't be allowed to run free."

Yes. The mission was the only thing that mattered. Heero had learned that well enough. His only reason for living was to complete the mission and now, as doctor J had pointed out, Hiro was standing in the way of that mission. He'd resented it, at first, but what else did he have in life? It wasn't as if he had a family or a home to go to. He had nothing but the mission and if he failed in that, then he was nothing.

Hiro was now called Seiji according to the laptop. In all the time they'd been together, Seiji had never confided his real name. 'But neither did I. Not that it matters, anymore.'

It had taken several weeks to track down Seiji. Heero found the crash site easily enough, but then lost Seiji's trail in the mountains. It was only an accident that he'd been captured by the Alliance, but it was humiliating. Doctor J undoubtedly already knew about it and he'd be punished when he returned to the base. It wasn't a complete loss as the Alliance soldiers who'd captured Heero had managed to save his laptop and Heero had found it during his escape.

He could take the punishment for his failure. It was the shame that galled Heero most. 'So,' He resolved. 'I will not fail. I will find Seiji.' Heero looked down from his vantage point and watched the students in the school yard with a trained eye, trying to get his mind back to work. Golden hair. He had to find Seiji amongst the sea of black.

There was another distraction, other than Heero's own memories. The sounds of the students' loud talking was very seductive, though, almost sinful in how they didn't care who heard them. The school yard was filled with people his own age talking and laughing, apparently eating lunch. The sight was odd for Heero who'd never seen anyone act like this. He'd been taught that meals were to be taken in silence and as quickly as possible, so what were they all doing out here like this?

A deeply buried part of Heero felt like it was itching for something as he watched the teenagers. Heero denied himself the request, which he didn't really understand anyway. Part of him wanted to go talk with the students in the schoolyard, to find out what they were laughing about, but he didn't know why.

'No! I don't need them! I don't need anyone. I need to find Seiji and complete the mission. Where is he?' Heero started to search again, looking from student to student and never staying to long on one face.

He was looking for one blonde in particular, with purple eyes and wonderfully pale skin. Taller than average and thinner than most of the other students, Seiji should stand out rather well.

Most everyone that he saw were ordinary students, from what Heero could tell, not that he had much experience in what normal people were like. He saw only one blonde and, though it caught his attention for a moment, this one was too short and had a round face, unlike Seiji's sharp, angular chin and high cheekbones. The blonde Heero had spied was younger looking with a quality of innocence to him with his easy smile and bright eyes.

Heero moved on, passed two Chinese boys, one reading while the other bobbed his head to the beat of loud music. Then, a blue haired boy that Heero moved on quickly from as he couldn't imagine Seiji dying his hair that odd color. Heero kept scanning the crowds of people, patiently. Seiji was there, somewhere.

Then something wholly remarkable happened.

Time stopped.

There was a boy in the school yard with the most beautiful smile. He was small and narrow with a bright smile and dancing eyes. Heero felt himself grow warm right behind his ears. Such a soft, childish face and the long rope of hair that fell down his back, it was all so charming. The boy was striking and Heero stared in astonishment.

Heero has to actually force himself to look away and blinked several times to clear his mind. The braided boy was too interesting to look at. His rosy cheeks were entrancing and it was something Heero realized he must avoid. 'I must remember why I'm here. I can't waste time looking at someone I'm never going to see again.' Still, one last look couldn't hurt. Several more moments of watching the braided boy talk nonstop to his darker haired companion and Heero had virtually recorded the boy's features in his memory. He would be able to store the happy face away for future viewing. It was all he was able to get, anyway. A...relationship would never be allowed by doctor J.

Heero resumed his search of the rest of the crowd and even as he considered all the students in the school yard Heero remembered the incident that had happened so long ago that took his partner away from him.

'It was because of me that he was taken away. I suppose it's no wonder he didn't want to take me with him when he left.'

Flashback-

'Oh, it hurts so much!' Heero tried to bite back the groan while he hugged himself with his knees tucked up to his aching stomach, but Seiji had heard him and held him tighter. 'I just wasn't strong enough!' Heero knew he should have been able to protect himself and Seiji, but he was too weak. It was still pitch black in the room Heero and Seiji shared, but Heero knew Seiji had also been hurt in the confusion. He'd told Heero that one of the men who'd hurt Heero had hit Seiji on the head, so it was probably a concussion.

Hurt and afraid, they lay huddled together with both of them thankful for the darkness and the solitude.

"Don't be afraid, Heero." Seiji whispered into his ear. "It'll be okay."

It felt good to be with Seiji. Seiji would try to protect him, even if he didn't understand what had happened, but the reality was that neither of them was strong enough to fight and win against any of the adults.

'They had...the soldiers had...' Heero's mind stopped the thoughts he wasn't ready to deal with. He just didn't want to think about what had happened in the darkness when they'd touched him and...

Seiji had woken up after it had happened and the soldiers had left, joking with each other even as Heero was left crying on the floor. He knew at the time that he'd probably be punished for that weakness, too. At least Heero felt safe with Seiji, he knew Seiji would never hurt him.

The next morning, Seiji and Heero, as always, woke to the light being turned on. They dressed in silence, nervous and worried about what would happen when they faced doctor J.

'Did we do something wrong and last night was a punishment? Doctor J usually tells us when we do something wrong, but maybe he was so angry that he'd just send the soldiers in to hurt us.' That, more than anything, worried Heero. How would they know how to protect themselves if they didn't know they were doing wrong? How could they avoid it happening again? What if it was Seiji who were punished and Heero wasn't strong enough to help him?

Finally, dressed in the tight black training gear, they waited until the door of the room was open and they were allowed to go out, accompanied by the two soldiers. These two soldiers were the same men who were there every morning, waiting to take them to doctor J for the day's training.

Seiji and Heero never spoke to the soldiers, of course. Doctor J disapproved of talking, and had made it very clear many times. They were to listen, not speak.

They finally arrived in a part of the complex that was familiar to both of them. It was the construction base, the hanger that was bigger than anything Heero could remember seeing before, with the partially built Gundam's housed in it. Heero had once been told that the Gundam's were being created from a very hard to find metal, so it was taking a terribly long time to build. That meant that they wouldn't learn to pilot them for a long time to come.

'I wonder how they can be sure we won't just run away once they let us in the ships? Then again, where would we go?'

Seiji and Heero stopped at attention in front of doctor J who was speaking to a technician. He signed several papers and gave instructions to the woman before turning to look at they two nine-year-olds. Doctor J frightened Heero, though he wasn't sure if it was the fact that he was their captor or just his bizarre appearance.

"Good morning, boys." Doctor J said with his usual smile.

Seiji and Heero remain silent, staring impassively in front of them with their hands at their sides. That had been the easiest lesson to learn. Do not speak.

Doctor J continued, "Today you're going to be starting on your physical education, to make you better hand to hand fighters. I... Hiro, what happened to your face?" Doctor J suddenly took Seiji's chin in one hand and turned his face to see the scabbed over cut and the large, ugly bruise on the side of Seiji's face.

That was where his head had been hit and now Heero wondered, because of doctor J's question, if he'd known about the punishment. Surely doctor J had known that they were together. 'Didn't he think Seiji would have tried to save me?'

"Someone hit me when I tried to help Heero." Seiji answered promptly, not bothering to try and lie. There was really no sense in lies.

One of the soldiers who'd escorted us down here, stepped forward with an embarrassed grin. "Sorry, sir. Our fault, we were just..."

Heero started shaking when he heard the man speak. 'That voice! It was the same man who had...touched me. The man who had pulled my clothes down and grabbed my...' Heero was having trouble breathing and his eyes were starting to lose focus, but he couldn't take his eyes off the man who didn't seem to be at all bothered by what he'd done.

Out of the corner of his eye Heero saw the most amazing sight. Seiji's calm, cool eyes blaze with fury. His fists were clenched and he was sort of hunched over. "You!" Seiji snapped, pointing an accusing finger at the soldier and his lips pulled back from his teeth in nearly a snarl.

"No talking!" Doctor J growled, irritated that his attention was taken away from the soldier. They all knew that the boys were not allowed to speak, regardless of what was going on. Silence was a weapon that they had to learn to use now.

Seiji, for the first time Heero could remember, completely ignored doctor J. He took a step away from Heero and toward the startled soldier. "You! You hurt Heero!" Seiji's teeth were bared like an animal with his anger. Seiji charged the soldier, who was looking at them with surprise and just a touch of apprehension. The man went down easily with Seiji on top of him, punching for all his worth, trying desperately to kill the man, the enemy.

"Hiro! Stop that now! That's an order!" Doctor J rushed over, grabbing Seiji by the shoulder, but Seiji's turned, lightening quick, caught doctor J in the mouth. Blood spurted and ran down doctor J's chin. Doctor J wiped the blood from his mouth, almost calmly, before lashing his cane at Seiji and striking Seiji in the face with a sharp crack and Heero heard a slight buzz at the impact.

Seiji screamed, jerking backwards in agony and falling off the soldier, onto the floor.

Heero ran to Seiji, but several of the soldiers grabbed him by the arms and restrained him. Seiji lay on his back until doctor J again jabbed his cane onto Seiji's face and Seiji screamed in agony. Heero then saw that it was touching Seiji's right eye, and Seiji convulsed, his arms and legs jerking wildly. Finally, long after Seiji had stopped screaming, he fell limply to the floor. Heero saw, horrified, that Seiji's face was smoking, the skin was black and Heero couldn't see Seiji's right eye anymore.

Doctor J looked down at Seiji before looking at the soldier he'd attacked. "What was that all about?"

The soldier, helped to his feet by his friends, said, "Nothing, sir. We just had a "little fun" with the boy, there," He indicated Heero. "I guess his partner didn't approve. He tried to fight us last night, too. In the light, I guess he's more effective."

Doctor J grunted with a frown and went back to examining Seiji. "You will not touch them without permission, do you understand, soldier?"

The man saluted as smartly as he could considering how well Seiji had beaten him.

Doctor J poked at Seiji's face. "Seems I went a little overboard with the electroshock. Boy shouldn't have hit me, though. Oh, well. No big loss." He considered a moment. "I suppose I could save the eye, its not that badly damaged, but a cybernetic eye might be interesting. Give him better vision than normal, really. Perhaps incorporate a sort of..." Doctor J's voice trailed away as thought about what he would do to Seiji. Finally he seemed to remember the soldiers that were still holding Heero back by the arms. "Take Heero to his room and lock him in. I'll return Hiro once I've finished with him."

Hours later Hiro was returned to their shared room, dumped unceremoniously on the bed.

Hiro blinked his left eye and slowly focused on Heero, looking more tired than anything else.

"How are you feeling?" Heero asked softly. It has been hours since he'd last seen Hiro, pale and unmoving on the hanger floor, but he looked no better now than after doctor J had attacked him. The wounds had been healed over, but now stitches laced Seiji's beautiful face, well, half of it anyway. How odd, to look at Seiji now, half an angel and half scarred so horribly.

"I...my face hurts. What happened?" Seiji still sounded half drugged, his voice was sluggish and he was slurring his words.

Heero scowled at him. "You're an idiot, that's what happened. You shouldn't have done that. He hurt you bad." Heero felt like crying, but he wouldn't Seiji would need him to be strong, now more than ever.

Seiji blinked. "I can't see right. My face feels funny." He reached a hand to his face, where the wounds were just beginning to heal.

Heero grabbed his hand before he could touch it. "No."

Seiji looked at Heero, more than a little afraid. "What's wrong with my eye, Heero?"

End Flashback-

Heero shook himself to bring himself back to reality and to his mission. Looking back, he knew that the cane was built to release a powerful electronic shock when it came in contact with a person, Heero knew this was what doctor J had used on Seiji's eye.

Doctor J's idea for the cybernetic eye implant had not worked, something about Seiji's body rejecting it, leaving Seiji permanently blind in his left eye, and without depth perception. That one disability was enough to separate the two boys. Heero was taken from their shared room the same day that Seiji woke up to find himself so blinded in one eye, and given a room of his own. Now Heero was alone. He hadn't seen Seiji again until Seiji had snuck in the cafeteria and tried to convince Heero to escape with him..

One of Heero's last memory of Seiji was Seiji sitting on their bed watching Heero be led away with his one surviving eye. Seiji had his arms wrapped around himself, his face so angry that he was nearly crying and Heero was crying already. He didn't want to leave Seiji, but it would be useless to argue. They all ready knew that arguing would only bring punishment. The door closed between the two boys and Heero knew he wouldn't see Seiji again.

Doctor J told Heero years later that Seiji was still being trained, but as a back up in case something happened to Heero. He would have rather had Seiji with him, but as the years passed, he came to see this as a weakness. It was better that he have no one to depend on but himself. Affection was a weakness, a liability, and Heero would do better on his own. After all, in the end, Seiji did abandon him, right?

'But if he hadn't been hurt defending me, he might have wanted me with him. He asked me, didn't he? Long before he actually escaped. It was a trap, though. I had to refuse.'

Heero spent more than three hours in the tree, long after a bell that had rung, signaling that everyone had to go inside, watching students come in and out of the building complex that made up the school. In all that time, no Seiji.

When the day was ending and Heero knew the students would be leaving the school so on, he heard a soft cry and looked down at the sound. Someone was sitting under the tree crying. Heero climbed down a few branches, completely silent, until he could clearly see the person. It was a little girl with long dark hair and very old fashioned, brightly colored robes who looked like to a very young twelve-year-old. She was sitting at the base of the tree with her knees up to her chest and crying into her hands.

"What's wrong?" He asked. So kill him, He had a weakness for children!

The girl looked up at him, surprised to find someone sitting in the tree, but she didn't say anything about it. The girl looked at Heero with a mixture of fear and curiosity, her eyes were large, but also puffy and red from crying. He let himself drop out of the tree and fall to the ground in front of her.

The girl cautiously stood, looking up at him. "Who are you?"

Heero knelt in front of her. "I can't tell you."

"Oh." She obviously hadn't thought he'd say that. "Can you tell me how to get home?"

"Where is your home?"

The girl's shoulders slumped with defeat. "I don't know. I came here with my friends, Byakuen and Kokuen-Oh, to find my brothers, but I lost my friends and I don't even know where I am!"

"What are your brother's names?"

"Ryou and Duo. Do you know where they are?" Her eyes lit up hopefully, but Heero had to shake his head, no. The girl sighed. "My name's Kay. It's really Kayura, but my brothers always call me Kay. Can you tell me how to get home?"

"Where is your home?" Heero repeated the earlier question.

"The Youja-Kai."

Heero blinked, at a loss for an answer.

"You know, Youja-Kai. It's kind of like this world, but we have lots of spirits and demons running around. Do you know how I can get back?"

'She must be unbalanced. Yes, perhaps she belongs in a mental institute and has wandered away. Poor girl.' Heero knew he really shouldn't leave his vigil of the school until he found Seiji, though. He was supposed to kill Seiji and that must be his priority. "Have you asked a police officer for help?"

Kay looked frightened. "What's a police officer? Is it like a soldier? My brothers say I must be careful of ningen sekai soldiers, they are very evil!"

Ningen sekai? Mortal World? Was this apart of her delusion or were her brothers feeding this garbage into her, making her sickness worse? He thought that the police getting involved with the girl might be the best thing for her. Even if she did have brothers, it didn't sound as if they are taking care of her properly. If officials got involved, she would get the medical treatment she needed.

Heero looked around, for the usual police officers that tend to patrol in front of the schools for the safety of the students.

None, of course.

The school yard was empty, now, so there was little point in looking for Seiji unless Heero wanted to take the chance of going inside and, frankly, he'd rather do this as a sniper job. Less chance of someone getting in the way. Still, Kay was looking up at Heero with very big, helpless eyes.

"I will find a police officer for you." Heero promised.

Kay suddenly smiled happily and threw her arms around Heero's neck, as she kissed his cheek. "Thank you, magic tree man!" She cried happily. "Now I know Naaza was wrong when he said all people in this world are evil. You are very good. I like you." She looked up at him with nothing but simple faith in her eyes.

That's the first time anyone's ever kissed Heero and he could still feel her warm lips on his cheek after she'd let him go. He touched the cheek where Kay had kissed him. 'The mission is everything, It's all I have.' Heero must complete his mission. Without the mission he's nothing, after all. But, perhaps, he could take just a minute to help the girl. There's nothing more to be gained here and he was not given a time limit on this mission. Kay, without hesitation, took Heero's hand and waited to be led to safety.

"Magic tree man?" Heero asked softly.

"Sure. You came out of the tree, so you must be some kind of magic tree man." She smiled. "Don't worry, I won't tell your secret. You must have a very good reason not to want anyone to know who you are."

They walked for a short while, just to where a park, peaceful before school let the children out to play for the afternoon. Kay chatted pleasantly, telling Heero about her missing brothers, whom she was very worried about. No one had told her where they were going, but Yaku-Chan and Ko-Chan were worried about them, too.

"Who are they?"

"My friends. Yaku-Chan is Ryou's friend mostly, though, and Ko-Chan likes to be with Duo best of all. But everyone likes me." She announced with just a touch of pride.

Heero found the experience bewildering. Walking through the city, crowded with people, with a little girl in ornate, impractical clothes while she explained to him the mysteries of some mythical world of monsters and demons and the castle she and her brothers lived in. Heero had never done anything like this before. All of the training he'd undergone had not prepared him for dealing with twelve-year-old little girls.

Kay, herself, didn't seem to understand the city, either. At one point, they both stopped in front of a store with a machine in the window like the monitor of a computer, one Heero vaguely knew as a television, though he'd never seen one personally, and Kay's eyes almost fell out of her head.

"What kind of horrible magic put people in that tiny box!" She demanded to know, never taking her eyes off the screen.

"That's not magic and those aren't real people. That is a television and technology allows images and sound to be transmitted over long distances through the use of wires, electricity, computer chips, and, occasionally, satellites. They work no differently than communication screens." Heero repeated a lesson he'd read in a book somewhere. Like most things, he'd heard of it, but never seen it. The picture of people running and screaming, trying to get away from giant tomatoes was, he had to admit, a little bizarre.

Kay looked at Heero with a doubtful expression and then back to the television. "I don't know what you're talking about, but it seems quite awful to do that to someone. Can't they see the big tomatoes are scaring the people?" She pointed to the screen in the store window for emphasis.

"I have been told that this is sort of thing is entertainment, not fact." Heero replied. At least he hoped so. He'd never heard of giant tomatoes running amok, but, as for all he knew, it could be real.

"Are you sure?" Kay asked skeptically.

"No."

Kay shook her head, looking strangely adult. "This is weird. I don't think I like this technology magic."

It was the same story with streetlights, cars, hot dog stands, radios, and airplanes were near miraculous to Kay. Heero decided that if Kay were living in a fantasy in her own mind, it was a very clever one. He honestly believed her when she said she'd never seen any of these things before.

They were walking around the park, closer to the river when a harsh voice called out, "Kay!"

Both Kay and Heero quickly looked around and Kay's face lit up when she saw a man, dressed in a formal looking kimono of black silk with red trim. In fact, just like Kay, he looked as if he had stepped out of the past. At odds with his very formal, traditional appearance, was the bright blue hair that stuck up in many directions. He looked at Kay with a mildly annoyed expression and his arms crossed over his chest. His face was harsh and square with a savage, cross-shaped scar marring his eye and cheek.

"Oniisan!" Kay cried out and she released Heero's hand, running toward the blue haired man. He scooped her up in powerful arms and hugged her tightly.

Heero watched the scene feeling slightly relieved. Kay had found her family so she would be safe, right? The bushes behind the blue haired stranger shifted, rustling and Heero instinctively reached for his gun, but no person came out. Instead, two impossibly huge tigers sauntered out, looking as if they owned the world. One, midnight black with gray strips and the other white with black strips. They moved in almost perfect unison, walking up behind the stranger and sitting on their haunches, like tamed house cats.

Instead of being afraid, Kay smiled down at the two large cats. "Did you bring Oniisan to find me? Oh, you smart things!"

"Smart things my..." The blue haired man's voice died away as he, apparently, remembered that there was a young child in his arms. He shot both cats a vile look.  
"Letting a child come here and then letting her run off on her own. You two should be ashamed!"

The black cat sniffed and turned slightly away from the man and Heero got the sudden impression that the cat was snubbing the man, telling him that what they did was their business and that humans shouldn't interfere. Of course, that was ridiculous. The black cat ignored the man entirely and stood, walking up to Heero. Heero made sure to keep perfectly still as the cat sniffed him and looked at him with penetrating, brown eyes and Heero knew this was not a normal cat. No normal, natural cat had such intelligent, surreal eyes.

"Don't you ever go off alone like that again!" The man scolded Kay as he walked toward Heero with Kay still in his arms. Heero noted that the man was older than he was, but not by much. He was perhaps seventeen to nineteen years old. There was some, unreal quality about him that Heero just couldn't put his finger on. Like he'd met the man before. "Do you have any idea how worried we were?"

Kay hung her head. "I'm sorry, Anubisu-san. I just wanted to find Ryou and Duo, that's all."

"They're at school, Kay. They'll be home later." The man, Kay's brother, looked down at Heero. "Who are you?" His voice was suddenly cold and suspicious. A tone Heero knew well from past men in authority.

Heero didn't answer the question, but Kay did. "He's the magic tree man and he was helping me to find home." She smiled at Heero. "He's my new friend."

Anubisu scowled. "Well, say good-bye to your friend. We have to go home now." Anubisu turned to go, but paused and looked back at Heero, squinting his eyes. "Don't I know you, boy?"

"No."

Anubisu wasn't put off, however, and examined Heero more closely. "I'm sure I've seen you before, kid." Anubisu scratched his head and rolled his eyes up as he thought. Then he snapped his fingers as the memory came to him. "Yeah! You're that kid the mad doctor was trying to make into a perfect soldier, aren't you?"

Heero froze. If anyone found out who he was, he was supposed to kill them and that meant he'd have to kill Kay, too. He really didn't want to do that. "You are mistaken."

"No." Anubisu continued, blissfully unaware of the danger he and Kay were in. "I'm sure of it, but it was a couple of years ago, so you probably don't remember me. I came to interview as a trainer for you and another boy, but I didn't take the job." He made a face. "That doctor gave me the creeps. I just couldn't stand to be near the man. So, how's the soldier thing going?"

Heero didn't answer, but he put a hand in his pocket where his gun was resting. He would have to kill them both.

The white cat, however, took Heero's wrist in his jaws, strangely gentle, and just held him. The eyes of the tiger seemed to say, "Don't even try it, kid."

Anubisu was talking again, not seeming to notice the tiger's odd behavior. "Well, we have to go, now, the others are waiting for us. I'm sure we'll meet again, kid." As he said this, the white tiger let go of Heero and went back to stand next to the other tiger. They were a set, it seemed, always together.

"Why did Yaku-chan try to bite the magic tree man?" Kayura asked Anubisu.

"He had a weapon in his pocket and Byakuren was trying to discourage him from using it."

"Oh. Is that all?" Kay looked over Anubisu's shoulder while they walked away and shouted, "Goodbye, magic tree man!" at the top of her lungs while waving wildly. Heero glanced around quickly and, not sure why he was doing it, cautiously raised his hand and gave her a tiny wave back. This little gesture seemed to make Kay's day complete and she beamed at him. "I'll see you again!"

Both tigers stood and followed behind the blue haired man, two powerful guardians that no one would dare to challenge.

Heero began to walk back to the school, confused. Very, very confused. All this training and he'd let himself be drawn away from his mission by a child? Doctor J would be very displeased if he found out about this. More puzzling was that Heero was happy now. He didn't smile, but he was happy for having spent time with Kay. Odd.

Just as he was thinking that it would be nice if he really did see Kay again, just as she'd promised, he passed a music store with the music inside blaring to attract attention. Heero froze when he heard the lyrics.

A winter's day in a deep and dark December I am alone Gazing from my window into the streets below On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow

I am a rock, I am an island

I've built walls, a fortress deep and mighty That none may penetrate I have no need for friendship, friendship causes pain It's laughter and it's loving I disdain.

I am a rock, I am an island

Don't talk of love, well I've heard the word before It's sleeping in my memory I won't disturb the slumber of feelings that have died If I'd never loved I never would have cried

I am a rock, I am an island

I have my books and my poetry to protect me I am shielded in my armor Hiding in my room, safe within my womb I touch no one and no one touches me

I am a rock, I am an island And a rock feels no pain And an island never cries

The song faded away and Heero began to walk again, his face determinedly set in stone. Yes, the song was quite true. If he let no one touch his heart, then he'd never be hurt again. Like when Seiji had been taken away. Like when Seiji left him behind when he'd escaped. Heero wouldn't let anyone hurt him again and, as the song had said, rocks feel no pain.

Xiu-

It all happened very quickly, really, and Xiu gave little thought to the incident until much later. He was taking garbage out from the restaurant, a chore he and Wufei alternated doing every day so Xiu's mama wouldn't have to do that sort of thing. The poor lady worked hard enough, she shouldn't have to do this sort of dirty work.

Just as Xiu finished with his load, he turned to go back into the restaurant and something caught his eye on the ground. He bent over and picked it up, surprised to find something out here in all the garbage. The thing was a marble with a something written in the middle.

"Are you coming in or staying out all night?" Wufei called from the doorway.

"Yeah, I'm coming." Xiu quickly picked up the marble and froze for just a second. Was it his imagination or did he suddenly feel stronger? Oh, well, probably nothing. Xiu stuffed the marble in his pocket and tried to forget about it.

Once inside, he found that Wufei had, once again, taken his hair down from it's pigtail and let it hang loose. He did this only when he wasn't working in the kitchen, helping mama with the cooking. Frankly, Xiu was terrible at cooking. Goodness knows he tried often enough, but he just didn't like doing it and nothing ever turned out right, anyway. Wufei, by contrast, was a fantastic cook. He didn't even need receipts; he just knew what would be good together and did it.

Just after the dinner rush when they could relax a bit and Wufei had taken out a large book to read as he sat in the kitchen. "Wear your glasses." Xiu reminded him when he saw Wufei rub his eyes. Wufei had needed reading glasses since he was ten, but he hated them.

Irritated, Wufei did as he was told, pulling the black wire glasses from his shirt pocket, knowing that Xiu would bully him into it if he didn't do as he was told. Xiu was only looking out for him, but Wufei had often told him that it felt like Xiu was nothing more than an old mother hen! A mother hen who would pound you into the floor if you dared to disobey, but a mother hen, nonetheless.

Xiu saw the black look Wufei gave him, but it didn't really bother him. "I never would have thought of you to be vain, Wuffers." Xiu commented with chuckle.

"Don't call me, Wuffers. It's a horrible nickname! Besides, I'm not vain. The glasses are just heavy."

Xiu laughed. "Yeah, right." However, when he saw Wufei's dangerous look, Xiu quickly changed the subject. "So, what are we going to do to celebrate?"

Wufei didn't bother to look up from his book. "Celebrate what?"

"Duh!" Xiu pulled the book out of Wufei's hands and hitting him softly over the head with it. "You're wedding, fool. You're not gonna be free with the ball and chain hanging around. I say we all head to a strip club!"

Wufei gave him a long, steady look. "Number one," He started. "If you call Meiran a ball and chain again, I will personally see to it that your vital organs are exposed to daylight. Number two, we are sixteen, and it's illegal to go into strip clubs. Number three, auntie will kill us with Big Ass when she finds out. Number four, can you honestly see ME in a strip club?"

Xiu carefully considered the objections. "Number one, okay. Number two, Touma can make fake ID that's better than the real thing. Number three, mama won't notice if we do it Thursday, which's her night out with her friends. Number four, well...maybe you're right. How about we go to the beach for a picnic instead?"

Wufei gave him a look of total disbelief. "The beach? Are you insane? It's December!"

Xiu grinned. "That's half the fun, no crowds."

"Why do we need to celebrate, anyway? You're going with me back to A0206, so you'll be able to celebrate with everyone else."

Xiu groaned at his cousin's thick skull and finally sat down beside him at the kitchen table. "Oh, come on!" Xiu nearly yelled. "That's not going to be any fun. You'll be with your wife and it'll be all grown up, dull stuff. I want to be childish and have fun. I'll bring soda and hot dogs. We'll build a big bonfire and just hang out. Touma will bring his new books, if you ask him nice, and we'll have lots of fun. Please. If nothing else, think of Touma and Quatre. They can't go to the wedding, so this'll be their last chance to wish you well." It was his last card to play. Wufei would do this for the sake of his friends, if nothing else. Quatre's dad had a notoriously long stick up his...well, anyway, he didn't like Quatre traveling around and would throw a fit when he found out.

Wufei thought quietly for many long minutes and finally nodded. "How about Saturday? We'll go the beach in the morning and spend the day."

Xiu threw a fist up in the air. "Yes!" He ran to the phone to tell their two friends what was going on.

Wufei-

Wufei shook his head with a soft smile as Xiu ran off. He never could deny Xiu anything. Even if they were going to spend a miserable day freezing their rumps off on the cold sand.

Trowa-

Shin had large bruises under his eyes, his skin was unhealthily pale and, in general, he looked horrible. He'd even lost weight because he'd stopped eating several days ago. Trowa walked beside him, keeping a close eye on his friend, while Catherine led them to the Faun Family Restaurant. She'd taken them from the spaceport where the circus had landed to the Chinatown district where she assured Trowa that they would find Shin's best friend and his mother, one of the most incredible women ever born, from Catherine's point of view, anyway.

The restaurant was a two-story building, the kind where the business was on the street level and the family lived above. Now, though they were not rich, mama Fan managed to keep her large brood in a comfortable, if somewhat cramp, home. It was just after lunch, so the restaurant was practically empty with only one dark haired young man behind the counter. He had a serious look to him and was, right now, cleaning the counter with a rag.

"Hello." Catherine smiled, getting the boy's attention. "We need to see Mama Fan, is she at home?"

The boy shook his head. "I'm sorry, but she's out at the moment. Can I help you?"

Shin spoke for the first time, looking up hopefully. "Is Xiu here?"

This time, the boy nodded. "Yes, he's in the kitchen. May I have your names?" He set down the rag and wiped his hands.

"I'm Catherine and this is my brother, Shin, and our friend, Trowa. Xiu knows us, please tell him we're here." Then she looked at him more closely. "You must be Chang Wufei, right?"

He looked startled. "Yes, how do you know me?"

Shin answered with a kind smile. "Xiu wrote to us and told us all about you. He's been very proud to tell us all about his great cousin and..."

"Hey, Wufei," A voice shouted from the kitchen behind Wufei. "Do we have a customer?" The curtain that covered the doorway was pulled aside and Xiu walked out. When his eyes landed on Shin, Xiu brightened. "Shin!" He jumped over the counter and landed next to Shin, gathering him up in a tight hug. "Oh, I've missed you! I didn't think you'd be by so soon. Did you meet my cousin?" Xiu looked at Catherine. "Cathy, you look as gorgeous as ever, sweetie."

Catherine laughed and hugged Xiu. "You big flirt."

Xiu then looked at Trowa. "I guess you're Trowa. Shin told me all about his quiet friend."

Trowa held out his hand politely and shook with the larger guy. It was only then that Trowa noticed that Xiu hadn't let go of Shin yet, still held him with one arm in a sort of half hug. "You don't look so good, man." Xiu told Shin. "Kind of washed out. Are you feeling all right?"

"Not really." Shin sighed and leaned against Xiu for support. "I haven't been feeling well for a while, actually. I was hoping to see the ocean while I'm on Earth. Maybe it will make me feel better."

"Maybe you're right. Come on upstairs and I'll put you to bed. Mama will be home soon and then you'll get babied until you can't stand it anymore." Xiu wrapped his arm tighter around Shin and pulled him to the stairs that led him upstairs. "Me and some friends are going to the beach in a few days, do you want to come with us?" They heard Xiu ask as they went upstairs.

Wufei asked, looking at Catherine, "Are they...?"

She nodded. "Yep. I don't think they realize it, yet, but they are most definitely in love."

Xiu-  
Saturday-

The fire was huge and gave off enough warmth that they were fairly comfortable in jackets and sweaters. They were pretty much alone on the beach, after all, it was winter, so who would be crazy enough to go to the beach? Well, except them, of course.

The teenagers were having a great time, laughing and horsing around by the fire. They had decided against going swimming, though Xiu and Touma had dared each other to take a plunge. Wufei had managed to convince Xiu that it was just plain dumb while Quatre had to tell Touma not to do silly things that might get him in trouble with Rashid. Touma respected Rashid very much and the last thing he wanted to do was to disappoint the closest thing he'd ever had to a father.

It wasn't long, however, before they noticed three of the people who'd come with them to the beach had gone further down the beach and were now just standing, watching the sea. Shin was staring out at the sea while the Catherine and Trowa were watching their friend.

"What's Shin doing?" Wufei demanded, looking at the three people who stood near the water's edge. Shin was taking off his shirt and wore nothing else but a pair of shorts. "He's sick, shouldn't he have stayed at home?"

"Yeah, but you just can't stop Shin when he gets his mind set on something and he really wanted to see the ocean." Xiu said looking up from his hot dog he'd just finished roasting, but his forehead was drawn tightly at seeing Shin doing something so foolish. "He's gotta be freezing, I hope this doesn't make things worse."

Slowly, as the four boys watched, Shin, a good distance down the beach, started into the water. Quatre flinched. "He can't be going in!"

Touma snorted, not caring about the idiot's behavior. "He's going to get hypothermia." Touma had always been rather fond of Xiu and the fact that this Shin had appeared out of nowhere and been invited out with them on a spur of the moment, irritated him. Sharing Xiu with Wufei and Quatre was bad enough, but at least they were his friends, too. He didn't want to share with some boy he didn't know and certainly didn't care about.

Quatre turned on his brother. "How can you be so cold?"

"It's winter." Touma said with a snicker and he pulled his coat tighter around him for emphasis.

"You know what I mean. Poor Shin's very sick, you saw how pale he is. We've gotta stop him, he could die in that cold!"

"He's nuts." Xiu mumbled, before a stern look crossed his face. "I'm gonna go get him. Oh, Crap!"

Shin dove under, letting the ocean swallow him.

"That idiot, I'll kill him! Wait till I get my hands on him!" But his anger didn't do a very good job of hiding his concern. Several breathless moments had passed before they heard a splash, closer to them. Shin came up and cried out as he thrashed for a moment, waving his arms wildly, before going under again.

"He's in trouble." Touma said, coming up to the edge of the water, his eyes concerned. Even if he wasn't real fond of Shin, that didn't mean he wanted him to die. A quick glance at Catherine and Trowa told that they didn't know Shin was in trouble. They were still watching where he'd gone under and not where he'd come up.

Xiu ran into the water, not caring about the biting cold, knowing that Shin was going to die in that water.

Touma threw his book down in the sand and took off the water, still fully dressed. He hated being nice, but he couldn't just let Shin drown! He knew that Xiu cared for Shin very much and he would hate to see Xiu unhappy, after all.

"Wait!" Quatre shouted, worried about Touma.

Touma didn't stop to answer, but dove in after the struggling boy.

Wufei snarled. "Those fools! That idiot, Shin! He'll kill himself and take them with him!" Wufei stomped to the edge of the water, but stopped there knowing that there was nothing left that he could do. He and Quatre watched, waiting for any sign of their friends to come up.

Xiu-

'I can't let Shin drown.' Just the though of losing him was too painful to think about. 'Poor guy must be sicker than I thought.' Xiu believed that Shin couldn't know what he was doing.

Xiu found Shin quickly, his eyes were only partly open and he wasn't struggling any more, but floating limply in the water, as if he were resigned to his fate. His left hand clenched tightly around something.

Xiu moved as quickly as he could and reach out to grab Shin's hand. Slowly, his face turned towards Xiu, only just becoming aware that he was even there. As Xiu grab Shin's hand, Xiu's mind flashed open.

'I can see him, everything. Shin flying on the trapeze. Walking on a high wire above a cheering crowd. I can feel the mask he wears, as if it's on my own face, and I feel how happy he is. Trusted Trowa waiting to catch him after a difficult stunt. Utter joy at making so many people happy. Catherine aiming her daggers at him during the show and how he trusts her completely. I can see his...oh, the pain is horrible! His mother and father as the disease lays waste to their bodies, making them thin and pale. They suffered for weeks before finally dying. I can feel how much he loves me. That made my heart stop for just a minute and almost let out the breath of air I was holding. He loved me. Shin really loved me!'

Xiu knew that Shin could feel him, too. Shin's eyes were open and he saw Xiu, everything that he feel and he knew how Xiu felt about him, now. Well, at least now there were no secrets between them. There was great comfort just from their hands touching. Xiu felt like he'd finally come home.

Someone grabbed Xiu's shoulder and he knw Touma was here. Xiu could finally understand why Touma avoided touching people as much as possible. He could see how bad it was for Touma on the streets, how hungry and afraid he'd been. His father's abuse and how much he feels he owes to both Quatre and Rashid. How desperately afraid he was that Rashid would change his mind and sent Touma away.

Xiu didn't want to move. He wanted to stay with them forever. Slowly, Xiu felt himself stop fighting to swim and he relaxed, letting himself drift, content to be just where he was.

Touma-

Xiu caught Shin first, but he wasn't trying to bring him up. They were holding onto each other, sinking into the darkness of the sea. Neither one of them were moving and Touma remembered reading that if a person was in the cold water too long, it could kill them. Touma barely stand the cold that presses around him like an iron glove squeezing his chest. What was it like for them?

Touma kicked harder in the water, sending him towards them faster and just manage to grab Xiu's shoulder.

Flash!

Touma could see them. Both of them in his mind as if they belong there and always had. He knew everything about Shin. Xiu, too. They both knew everything that had ever happened to Touma. Every time the old man had beaten him and the times Touma been raped on the street, before Rashid had found him. They knew Quatre's smile and how kind Rashid and Abdul have been.

'I don't want them to know about me. I don't want anyone to know me. At least, I know that they won't tell.'

Continued... 


	9. Sweet Suiko

Chapter 8: Sweet Suiko

The circus-

Ringmaster-

Everyone was busy packing, but Ringmaster wasn't happy about it. He'd had to break several contracts when he'd given in to Catherine's ultimatum and that gave him a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. The circus lived and died by his reputation and now there would be a great many people who wouldn't believe his word. The source of the ringmaster's troubles was currently packing, like everyone else. The tent the three of them shared was already down and rolled into a small, compact bundle and all that was left was packing their few belongings into backpacks that they would carry to Earth. "Well, I hope you're all satisfied." Ringmaster grumbled at the three younger people as they packed. "We're giving up a very profitable tour just so you can go swimming!" He was sorry the minute he said it. Shin didn't reply, but his shoulders drooped and a feeling of utter depression seemed to settle over him. Ringmaster shouldn't have said anything, but it wasn't the first time his big mouth had gotten him in trouble. He knew Shin was sick. If Catherine was afraid for Shin, then she very likely had good reason. It was just the timing that upset the ringmaster. Timing and feeling the loss of control over his own people. Catherine was not a liar and if she said she'd leave, taking Shin and Trowa with her, then Ringmaster had to believe her. He simply couldn't afford to lose the star attractions of his circus - Shin and Trowa.

Shin looked away guiltily as he packed his few belongings. "I'm sorry about this." He muttered, but Catherine put a hand on his shoulder.  
"It's not your fault, Shin." She told him reassuringly before turning her glare on the Ringmaster. "Leave him alone."

Ringmaster sighed and threw up his hands in defeat. He just couldn't argue logic with a protective big sister. It wasn't just Catherine, though, or even Trowa, but the whole Circus was behind Shin. Everyone loved him and would do anything for him, so it would be a rebellion if he didn't get Shin to Earth and at least try to get his mind away from the nightmares. If nothing else, Shin was falling apart during the show, leaving it to Trowa to do all the fancy, high flying moves. Seeing as how they were still billed as the Twin Clowns, one just wasn't good enough in the eyes of the audience, so they were starting to complain.

But, in his heart, even Ringmaster knew he should lay off Shin for a while. The boy was pale and worn looking from lack of sleep with blood-shot eyes. Shin was sick, Ringmaster was sure of that now, and if nothing else, they would have to go to Earth to get a decent doctor to heal him. Ringmaster was very proud of the fact that he took care of his people, no one here ever had to worry about an injury or sickness, not if Ringmaster could afford the best. He turned and walked back to the big top to supervise the dismantling of the circus tent. They would be leaving today and arrive on Earth probably in two weeks.

Ringmaster never saw the man watching this scene from behind the moving crates and if anyone had seen him, they wouldn't have thought anything of him. There were plenty of people who liked to hang around the circus when they were packing or unpacking. This man in particular, though, wasn't interested in the high-wire walkers or the horses. His eyes were glued onto Trowa, holding a clown's half-mask, with a star over the eye and a large red mouth.

In a tavern-

Mayers-

Mayers was drinking heavily - not an unusual state for him - when one of his men ran into the tavern. "I found him, boss! I've seen Trowa." The man nearly shouted. It really didn't matter if anyone heard. This was not the most law-abiding place in the universe.  
Mayers put his tankard down hard, sloshing the ale everywhere. "What!" He demanded roughly. "Where the Hell is that kid!" He had been searching for Trowa for weeks now, the embarrassment of having a child beat him was too much for him reputation to bear. Not to mention that other kid who'd been with Trowa at the time. Mayers knew he had to find Trowa and show him what happened when you left his mercenaries.

"In the circus, if you'd believe it. He's one of those Twin Clowns that everyone's talking about these days. I saw him put on the mask, a half-mask with a star over one eye. I heard them talking and they're going to Earth, soon."

Mayers sat back and smiled at the news. Revenge wouldn't be difficult, then.

Earth-

Shin- Shin was much happier since he'd been reunited with Xiu and now had met all Xiu's new friends, including the serious cousin and sour Touma. Earth was just like he'd remembered it. All that was left was to visit the sea and that was made even easier because of the party Xiu had planned for Wufei at the beach. Much to Touma's displeasure, Xiu had quickly invited Shin. On the following Saturday, Shin, Catherine, and Trowa had tagged along for Wufei's bachelor party, though the three of them had another goal in mind. The others were too involved in their party for Wufei that they didn't notice Shin, Catherine, and Trowa, quietly leaving almost as soon as they'd reached the beach.

Shin stood at the seaside with Trowa and Catherine slightly behind him, gazing out at the gray and blue surf. Trowa's ever silent presence was reassuring when Shin looked at the rolling waves and the biting wind whipped at him. Dawn was just breaking, coloring the sky with a rainbow of orange, red, yell, and purple. The sea glimmered in the light, looking so inviting, yet Shin was afraid. The sea would kill him, surely sending the murderous yoroi after him. But, Shin bend down and put a hand in the sloshing waves as they rolled up on the beach, the water felt so RIGHT. How could it be evil and mean to hurt him?

"Go on, Shin. We'll be right here."

Shin looked over his shoulder at Catherine who gave him a worried smile. She had such faith that this would work. After pulling off his shoes and most of his clothes, Shin stepped into the water. It was cold on his ankles, almost numbing. Trowa had argued against this. It was the middle of December, he'd protested. The freezing water would kill Shin. Shin argued back that if he didn't get his head straightened out, he'd end up killing himself, so Trowa gave in, reluctantly.

Shin took another look over his shoulder, but Trowa and Catherine hadn't moved. He had to do this on his own. Well, if this could cure the nightmares, then Shin would do it! He just couldn't take it anymore.

Taking a deep breath, Shin started walking into the water, enjoying the feeling of the cold waves as they hit against his knees, then his thighs, and finally his chest. It felt so good, but it wasn't enough. Shin took a deep breath and submerged, letting the water completely surround him. Like a mother welcoming her child home, the sea pulled him into her strong, secure embrace.  
Shin dove deeper, letting himself be drawn out into the deeper part of the sea. The water became darker, but he could still see curious fish as well as other things swim passed him. As he swam, Shin realized something familiar about this part of the sea, but he couldn't quite place it. Something told Shin that he had to go deeper, toward the bottom. He did as the feel told him to and quickly saw the rocky ocean floor. It was then that Shin realized why this place felt familiar.

It was the place of his nightmares. Shin almost panicked, but no seaweed shot out of nowhere to attack him and no evil yoroi was waiting for him at the bottom. Only several fish, rocks, sand, and...Shin saw a glint of something among the rocks. Sea glass, maybe? He went deeper, ignoring the burning of his lungs, to investigate. It looked like a marble, a small clear glass ball with something in the middle of it, but Shin couldn't quite see with all the silt in the water. Shin hesitated only a moment before reached out and touched it, opening his mind shockingly fast. He gasped, sucking in water, at the feel. He knew the thing was his. He had to have it.

Unfortunately, as he'd just inhaled water, Shin also started choking and had to start fighting his way back to the surface. He was almost to the surface when his vision started blurring and going dark. No! He couldn't pass out. Catherine and Trowa were waiting for him. He was almost safe and, he was sure, the nightmares would end. Shin's arms were heavy, like lead weights, and it was getting hard to move. The sea warmed suddenly, and Shin saw, right in front of him, a shape forming out of the murky water.

The yoroi! The blue yoroi holding the yari (trident), standing motionless in the water, just floating in front of him, and this time, Shin did panic. It had come for him, just like in the dream!

Shin pushed himself to the surface, desperate to get away from the yoroi that had started to move, reaching out for him. He managed to get his head out of the water and take a deep breath of air, before something hard and cold grabbed him by the ankle and then by the hip, dragging him back under. 'I'm going to die!' Shin screamed as he went under again. 'Oh, please, I don't want to die!' Shin lashed out with his foot, kicking the armor chest as it pulled him down further, but he only managed to hurt his foot.

The world started to turn dark again and his head felt light. 'No. No.' Shin's struggling slowed, he couldn't move and even holding his breath was nearly impossible. The yoroi took him by the shoulders, pulling Shin into an oddly intimate embrace, and Shin had no strength to pull away. It brought his face in close to its faceplate, which was terrifying because there was no face in there, just emptiness.

Very distinctly, in his mind, Shin heard the yoroi say, DO YOU FEAR YOURSELF, SUIKO? WE ARE ONE.

What?

Shin clutched desperately to the marble thing, unwilling to let it go, even now in the clutches of the nightmare yoroi. Shin stopped struggling, his mouth fell open, letting the last of his air escape in bubbles as he sagged in the arms of the thing. So long as he had the orb, everything would be all right. Even death was not a problem, just so long as he had the orb.

Someone was coming toward him, but Shin didn't know who it was. No one should be in the water now and he hoped it wasn't Trowa or Catherine, it was just dangerous to go swimming in this cold. The irony was almost enough to make Shin laugh, if he'd had the strength. Someone grabbed his hand and Shin felt his mind expand with the feel of a gentle, powerful mind. A person with a strong personality, who was absolutely rooted in the belief he had to do the right thing, no matter how hard. Shin forced his eyes open and saw Xiu, his cheeks puffed out trying to hold his breath, and he knew everything about Xiu.

Xiu's happy life, helping to support his family and living as best as he was able to. He was also in love with Shin and it was all Shin could do not to die of happiness on the spot.

Touma, Xiu's other friend, the sour tempered one, was with them and Shin saw passed all the barriers Touma had worked to put up in front of him. He saw a scared, hurt boy who just wanted a friend or two, but didn't know how to go about it. He saw Touma's tragic past and how it haunted Touma.

Where was the yoroi? Shin didn't have to look around, but he knew it was gone.

Shin suddenly knew that they were drowning, right along with him. Now, it may not matter whether he lives or not, but these other two must NOT! They are to precious to lose and shin knew he had to do something. Shin thrashed violently, waking up his body up to try and save these others. Shin took them both, one under each of his arms and tried to just kick to the surface, but he wasn't strong enough. The two boys were dead weights, only barely alive, and just Shin realized he would have to leave one behind, if he were going to save the other.

Shin kicked harder as if he could will himself to the surface. 'No, I won't let them die. Not even one of them!' Shin kicked and thrashed, but he was losing what little remaining strength he'd had. 'Please, someone, help me.'

The desperate thought was all Shin could do. His eyes were starting to close and his mind seemed to be going foggy. The touch of the minds that were now with him, though, didn't fade at all. In fact, if Shin could just concentrate a moment, he was sure that he could hear what they were trying to tell him.

There was a great force under him and suddenly Shin and the others were being forced up, toward the pale light of the sun. A thought touched his mind. 'Sweet Suiko.' Shin knew the loving thought came from whatever was saving them and it had used the same name for him that the yoroi had used. Suiko. Shin woke with pain, a deep burning in his chest, and someone's mouth on his. Someone pressed hard on his chest, then the mouth was on his again, forcing air into his lungs. Suddenly he was coughing up water and sucking air in, and it tasted so good to have clean fresh air in his mouth. Shin became aware that he was laying on the sand, the sun was hurting his eyes, and Cathy was crying.

"Shin!" Something heavy landed on Shin, hugging him tightly. "I was so worried!" He blinked, getting the last of the salt water out of his eyes to look at his sister, still hugging him, and Trowa kneeling next to him. Shin had no doubt that it was Trowa who'd given him mouth-to-mouth. Pity. He'd rather hoped that it was Xiu who'd done it.

That made Shin think of the other two, but when he looked, he saw Wufei and Quatre sitting next to their friends and trying to wake them up. Both were laying on the beach, completely out of it. Wufei resorted to gently slapping Xiu's face to wake him, but even that didn't work. Quatre was nearly in tears at the state Touma was in, but, somehow, Shin knew they would both be all right.  
"What happened?" Shin asked groggily, focusing back on Catherine and Trowa.

"Xiu and Touma went into save you, you fool!" Catherine snapped with tears still in her eyes. "You ended up dragging them to shore and then passed out. You were down there so long we got worried, but we didn't know where you where you were. Thank God, they saw you floundering around! Why did you go so deep, Shin? You said you only wanted to go wading."

Shin looked at the two guys who'd come to rescue him. They were hurt because they'd gone into the water after him. "I had to get something down there." He opened his hand, revealing his treasure to both of them. At least he knew that part was real.

Trowa looked at it curiously, and Catherine asked, "What is it? It can't be a pearl."

Wufei snarled, glancing over his shoulder at Shin. "I certainly hope your treasure was worth risking their lives."

Shin flinched at the tone, but closed his hand around the orb again, like the precious something it was. "It's my heart." He smiled happily at Catherine. "I've found myself."

"That's all well and good," Trowa spoke for the first time. "But do you think your nightmares are cured."

With the tiny weight of the orb, Shin was very confident in saying, "Yes. The nightmares are gone. This is what I needed." Then he looked at Trowa with a wide smile. "Trowa, you take the night off tonight. I'll do the act alone."

"Are you sure?" Catherine asked. "Do you feel well enough? I mean, you almost drown just now and you haven't slept for days."

Shin jumped up and did an easy back flip in the sand, twisting his body in the air. "I feel great!" And it was true. Shin hadn't feel this good in ages, he felt rested and relaxed, like everything was right in the world. Except that his rescuers were still not awake. Shin looked at them and took a few steps closer to Xiu and Touma. "How are they?" He asked. "Is there anything I can do to help."

Wufei gave him an acid look. "Thank you, but no." Shin could tell that this boy really didn't like him very much. "I see no reason for Xiu to hang around people who can't even take care of themselves and do stupid things like jumping into the sea in the middle of winter. You call yourself his friend, but you almost got him killed!" Wufei somehow managed to pick up Xiu. "Come on, Quatre. I want Xiu and Touma to get home and warmed up. We may have to take them to the hospital." Then he glared at Shin. "You, stay away from my cousin and my friends. You'll get them both killed at this rate."

Shin watched them all go sadly, but didn't try to change Wufei or Quatre's mind. He knew how Xiu and Touma felt, and that was all that mattered. When they were well again, then he could go see them.

"Wufei was right, Shin. That was a really stupid thing to do. And you shouldn't be performing at all." Catherine looked at Shin with disapproval. "You're going to catch hypothermia or pneumonia from being in the water all this time."

Shin smiled with wide eyes. "I'm not the least bit cold."

She took him by the arm anyway saying that she wanted to get him home and warmed up. They were walking away when Shin glanced over his shoulder and saw the black fin of an orca poking out of the water and a spray of water. 'Goodbye, sweet Suiko.'

'Goodbye, my friend. Thanks for saving us.' Shin replied happily. He had no idea how he could now talk to a whale, but it felt like a right thing to do.

'For sweet Suiko, anything. Good hunting to you, sweet Suiko, and to your mates, Kongo and Tenku.'

Shin frowned a bit at this, not understanding, but let himself be taken away.

That night-

Mayers- A little investigation was all that was needed to tell Mayers that Trowa would be doing all the stunts of the Twin Clowns act. The other clown was sick and couldn't preform. All the better for Mayers. There wouldn't be any mix-up. The first night the circus opened on Earth, he found himself a dark little spot in the back of the audience with his rifle. The place was crowded, but not so full that Mayers had to worry about being seen. Everyone's eyes were on the center ring where a half-masked clown came dancing out from behind stage. Mayers took aim at the clown. At this distance, Mayers couldn't quite make out the half face of the clown that showed. But, watching the clown flip high in the air and land on the huge rubber ball easily, Mayers had no doubt that only Trowa could possibly do things like that. Mayers carefully aimed at the clown, taking time to center the cross hairs on the clown's chest.

BANG!

The clown jerked violently and fell hard, landing on his back.

The audience screamed, like Mayers knew they would and started to run wildly. It was perfect cover for him. Slipping the gun back into his coat, Mayers headed out, screaming as madly as the rest of them. It was simple enough to get out.

Trowa-

Trowa watched Shin perform in the center ring doing better than ever. The visit to the sea had done wonders for him, bringing back his self-confidence and, hopefully, letting him finally sleep free of nightmares for the first time in weeks. Shin flipped easily on the large rubber ball landing deftly on one foot. It was a simple trick, one that Shin could do in his sleep, he would get on to the more impressive tricks in a few minutes.

BANG!

Trowa's mouth fell open as Shin fell. It seemed to happen very slowly. Shin jerked, his head flying backwards, then there was a cry of pain and shock before Shin landed hard on the sawdust floor. Catherine actually managed to dash out ahead of Trowa and reach Shin's side first. The crowd as panicking and Trowa had to tune out the noise they were making to concentrate on Shin as both he and Catherine knelt next to him. Shin had been shot just under the heart, thank God, and he was still alive, if only just.

Catherine was feeling for a pulse and relived when she found on. "He's still alive!" She cried and pressed her hands over the bleeding hole in Shin's chest. "Trowa, go find a doctor!" She ordered, he voice harsh from fear.

"The ambulance is on its way." Ringmaster told them, squatting beside Shin. "What happened."

"One shot fired from the audience, caught him approximately two inches below his heart and appears to have punctured his left lung." Trowa reported. He looked up at the audience, as he knew there was nothing more he could do for Shin. There was no one who would ever want to kill Shin, he was simply to good of a person. However, there were many people who would be thankful for Trowa's death. His eyes narrowed, searching the now thinning crowd. Nothing. Not one person he could recognize. The bullet must have been meant for him and with the costumes he and Shin wore, it wouldn't be difficult to make such a mistake.

This was his fault, Trowa knew. His fault that Shin might die. The blood was gathering around Shin, escaping Catherine's hands and there was little they could do until the ambulance arrived. Trowa took off his shirt and folded into a neat square, telling Catherine to use it instead of her hands. After she'd replaced it, Trowa put his hands over hers, adding his weight to the pressure on Shin's wound. That might be all that kept him alive.

Outside, they heard the cry of the ambulance sirens.

Date Dojo-

Seiji-

At their house, Seiji was eating dinner with his sister and Zechs, who'd been invited over more than once since Seiji had started to settle into his new life, when he clutched his chest suddenly and gasped with unexpected pain.

"Seiji!" Luc was next to him instantly with her hand on his back. "What's wrong."

He didn't answer and simply sat hunched over and breathing hard. It felt as if he'd just been shot. Seiji took his hand away from his chest and looked, but there wasn't a drop of blood or even a wound. Zechs put a hand to Seiji's throat, checking his pulse. "Is it your heart?" Zechs asked with a professional manner. "Your pulse seems normal."

Seiji allowed Zech's touch, but only because Luc trusted him. He allowed them to feel his forehead and ask questions which he didn't answer. His mind was on something else. One of the others was hurt. Seiji felt the touch of water washing over his face and he felt the pain. "I have to go." He stood abruptly and started out of the house.

"What?" Luc demanded, confused. "Sei-chan? What's going on? Where do you have to go? You should be going to the hospital."

"I have to go." Seiji repeated himself. Seiji started walking down the street and quickly changed to running as quickly as he could, even as Luc and Zech's stared after him. He could find the person if he followed the feeling, he just knew it. He had to find the person.

Fan Family Restaurant-

Xiu-

Xiu woke feeling exhausted and found himself in his own bed. The other bed that Wufei used was neatly made, as always, but empty. The moon was shining through the window and the house was eerily quiet. Xiu listened as hard as he could, but it was completely, absolutely quiet. He'd never heard it so quiet in his whole life!

Wufei stepped into their room and brought with him a tray of soup and hot tea. "You need some peace to rest." Wufei set the tray next to Xiu's bed and sat with him. "How are you feeling? I was afraid I would have to take you to the hospital. Auntie's not very happy with you at the moment."

"I didn't think she would be. I'm fine, I just feel a bit weird, that's all." Xiu answered. He could still feel Shin in the back of his mind, like a phantom touch, just lingering there. But, it was definitely there. Touma, also, was there, so close that Xiu almost felt as if he could touch them both. "How's Shin?"

Wufei scowled at the mention of Shin. "I don't know, nor do I care."

"What?" It was very unlike Wufei to act like this, especially toward someone he barely knew. "You didn't call and check up on him? How long have I been out."

"More than a day. Why should I care what happens to him? He almost killed you and Touma with his stupid behavior. He is not the kind of person I think you should be with. You are to good for that."

Xiu sat bolt upright. "Now wait a minute! Where do you get off..." Xiu suddenly cried out and lay back onto his bed in agony. "Oh, shit! Crap!" He cried. Xiu felt Wufei's hands on him.

"What happened? Are you all right."

"My chest!" The pain was worse than anything Xiu had ever felt before and it was digging right into him. Xiu was trying not to scream, but it was so hard.

Wufei managed to make Xiu lay still. "Move you hands, I have to see." Xiu reluctantly moved his hands away and let Wufei check his chest. "There's nothing here, Xiu." Wufei sounded confused, but continued checking such things as Xiu's eyes and pulse. "Maybe I should take you to the hospital, after all. It must have something to do with your little swim."

Slowly, the pain dulled and Xiu was able to breathe easier and he felt the pain that the other was feeling.

Xiu tried to pull away from Wufei. "Look, it's not me that's hurt, it's him."

Wufei narrowed his eyes. "Him who? Shin again?"

"Yeah, I think so. He just got hurt and real bad, too. I have to go help him." When he was met with only the uncomprehending stares, Xiu grew frantic. "Don't you understand? I have to find him, Shin needs me!" Xiu pushed passed Wufei, running out the door and down the stairs.

Wufei followed him out all the way down through the restaurant and to the alley out back. Behind the restaurant, Wufei found Xiu strapping on a helmet and getting on Wufei's motorcycle. "You are in no condition to ride." Wufei said firmly, trying not to feel insulted that Xiu was touching his bike without asking.

"I'm fine. I told you, it's Shin who's hurt."

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I won't let you endanger yourself when you're sick." Wufei strode up to Xiu and took his arm.

Xiu gave him a very serious look. "Don't be dumb. You know you can't fight me hand to hand. I'm way too strong for you, so back off before I have to do something I'll regret in the morning."

Wufei stood there a moment, debating with himself. It would do no good to let Xiu beat him into a pulp and Xiu could do that easily. Wufei let go and stepped away. "Where are you going?"

Xiu, without asking permission, straddled Wufei's motorcycle and shrugged. "I don't know, but I know I can find him if I just look for him. He needs me." Xiu took off into the night, leaving Wufei alone on the sidewalk and very confused.

Wufei didn't waste a moment before he ran to the street where he just saw a taxi pulling up to the sidewalk to let someone out. He quickly jumped in and told the cab driver. "Follow that motorcycle."

"Is speed an issue?" The driver asked.

"I'll give you a two hundred yen tip if you stay at least two cars behind him. If you lose him, I'll break both of your legs"  
The driver, understanding that Wufei was serious, took off after Xiu.

Quatre's mansion-  
Touma-

Touma was star gazing when the pain hit him. Unfortunately, he was laying down on the roof of Quatre's house at the time. The pain was so sudden and intense that Touma jerked and starting rolling off the roof.

"Oh, no." Touma whimpered, clutching desperately at the shingles of the roof. What an embarrassing way to die! Falling off the roof of your own home! Especially after Quatre had been nagging Touma for years about sitting on the roof, and how he would fall someday. If Touma survived, Quatre would never let him live it down! Touma felt the pounding ache in his chest dim just as his feet slipped off the edge of the roof and he was left dangling by only his fingertips. "Oh, please, don't let me die this way! It's just to pitiful."

Touma hung there for a moment, trying to think of a way to save himself, when he felt the singles start to give way under his weight. Little by little, Touma was slipping until, very suddenly, Touma just fell. Though he didn't remember screaming, Rashid told him later that he did. Rashid should know. Touma landed on him.

"Touma, what were you doing up there?" Touma's large adoptive father asked when he helped Touma to his feet.

"Falling." Touma answered dryly. Rashid knew that Touma was into the stars, so he shouldn't be all that surprised Touma was up there in the first place.

"Why were you falling? You've never had any trouble with heights before." There was no time. Touma had to go! "I'll explain later, sir." Touma took off running into the night.

Youja Kai-  
Ryou-

Everyone was sitting in the family room, waiting for Naaza to finish cooking dinner when it happened. A burning pain, deep inside Ryou, and he gave a short cry of pain. Everyone instantly looked at him, startled. "What's wrong?" Anubisu asked, looking up from polishing his sword.

"I...my chest hurts. Like someone just shot me with an arrow." Ryou rubbed the sore spot, but there was nothing there. "I think someone got hurt." Ryou could feel fear from someone, but he didn't think it was Seiji. Ryou hadn't told his oniisan's about that yet, or the orb the old man had given him, though he knew he should. For some reason, Ryou was afraid that it would make them angry.

Ryou's oniisans gave each other strange looks and Naaza came in, his face serious. Ryou knew they could speak to each other without talking, but he hadn't understood it until he'd met Seiji.

"You can feel their pain?" Mama Sh'ten asked Ryou, his face deadly serious.

"Um, yes. Why?" Ryou was getting nervous at their reaction and the way they were looking at him. "Did I do something wrong"  
"No. Nothing…wrong." Rajura covered his face with his hands for a minute before looking at mama Sh'ten. "It has to be now. We've put it off for too long."

Mama Sh'ten seemed reluctant, but nodded. "Yes. If he's starting to contact the others, then it is most definitely time."

Anubisu set his sword carefully back into the scabbard on his back and stood up. "Come with us, Ryou. There is something you need to see."

Duo, for some reason, had been oddly silent through the whole conversation, but he stood as Ryou did. Even though he didn't know what was going on any better than Ryou did, he wanted to go, too. They always went everywhere together.

Before Duo could even take one step, however, Rajura was behind Duo and grabbed him, holding a hand over Duo's eyes and he whispered softly. "Sleep."

Duo was instantly asleep and fell limply into Rajura's arms, who then lowered Duo gently to the floor. "He'll wake up soon, but he can't come this time." Rajura told Ryou while he pulled a blanket over Duo.

Ryou was becoming afraid, "Why can't Duo come? What's going on?"

Naaza said, but he pointed to Ryou's chest. "We're worried about your pain. You are one of us, Ryou. You are destined to become a great warrior at our side. For some reason, you are starting to become connected to the other side of the war, the enemy. You can, it seems, feel their pain and one of them has been hurt. If we don't stop this now, you may be drawn to their side and want to fight against us. Do you want that?"

"Of course not!" How could Ryou want to fight his own brothers? He'd never join the enemy, whoever they were!

Rajura smiled. "Good. Then come with us, Ryou. It's time for you to meet our master, Emperor Arago."

Continued...


	10. Punishment

Chapter 10: Punishment 

Sh'ten-

The halls seemed quieter than ever before, but they couldn't have been. It was just the tension of the situation that made it seem so. The five of them, the Ma-Sho and Ryou who would shortly join their proud ranks, walked down the stone halls that were their home, but not without trepidation.

Why the unease?

There was no better time for apprehension than when one was approaching Arago, the demon emperor. Even more disquieting was Ryou, and how they all feared he would react. He was only a child…they all knew he would react badly.

'I've walked these halls so long, I can scarcely remember not living here. One day Ryou will think back on his life at that foundlings home and he will wonder if it was real or nothing more than a dream.' The echo of footsteps and oppressive silence seemed worse than ever after that thought. Sh'ten wondered if, perhaps, it was guilt that made this simple walk seem so demanding. Sh'ten rarely felt guilt about anything he did but escorting Ryou into the service of a demon couldn't be a good thing.

Ryou walked nervously with his brothers surrounding him and, for the first time in many years, Duo wasn't by his side. Even to Sh'ten, it seemed odd to have Ryou away from Duo. The two seemed like a matched set, after so long together. Despite the immensity of the palace, the boys shared a room. It had been their choice when they'd first arrived and neither had ever wished for rooms apart. But…as the Ma-Sho all knew, this time, it couldn't be helped. There was no reason to throw Duo into danger as well as Ryou.

Ryou fidgeted, biting his bottom lip and nervously looking over his shoulder as if he thought Duo might come running from around a corner, laughing. It wouldn't happen. When Rajura put someone out, they stayed out as a general rule.

"When are you going to tell me where we're going?" Ryou asked, not for the first time since they'd left Duo. "Why couldn't Duo come?"

"You'll find out soon." Sh'ten told him. They walked in formation around Ryou and Sh'ten knew that Ryou must have realized it. Rajura took point, walking ahead of them all. Anubisu brought up the rear while Naaza and Sh'ten walked on either side of Ryou, effectively boxing him in. "Trust me. Duo wouldn't want to come along, anyway."

There was no doubt in Sh'ten's mind that when the two boys got older they would become lovers. Why shouldn't they? It made sense, in a terribly practical way. They were relatively the same age and neither one was in a position of authority over the other - though Ryou did respect Duo a great deal. There would be no worry about one of them being coerced into the relationship unwillingly and no need to guard them from outsiders.

Besides, the alternatives were unthinkable. Either they would have to bring in an outsider or two for the boys to share or - Sh'ten shuddered at the idea - one of the four older brothers would have to fill in that role. That, Sh'ten and his brothers had all agreed, would have been just too weird.

"They're more like our sons than brothers." Anubisu had said looking a bit green at the idea. "Ewww…"

Of course, none of them were related by blood, it wasn't as if they were real brothers, but the distinction was close enough. It was one thing to call a man your brother and love him, but quite another to raise a boy from childhood and take advantage of his innocence. It wasn't as if they could expect the boys to stay pure and virginal forever. Hormones were bound to take control sooner or later and the sooner something was planned out, the better.

It was for all these reasons that Ryou and Duo's closeness weren't just accepted, it was encouraged. The older brothers allowed them to sleep together, bathe together, and nearly anything else they pleased. So long as the family was happy.  
"Why won't you just tell me?" Ryou pressed. "Have I done something wrong? Is it this thing?" He made as if to reach into his pocket for the orb he'd found, but stopped at Sh'ten's sharp look. "What is it? Just tell me!"

"You haven't done anything wrong, but it's time for you to meet our master." Sh'ten regretted that they'd never made and effort to have the boys meet Arago before that moment. Ryou and Duo both knew that there was a lord of the palace whom the Ma-Sho served, but they'd both been told not to seek the lord out. Further explanations might have been helpful, but the right time had never appeared. "Do the fires still frighten you, Ryou?"

"No." Startled at the question, Ryou considered the torches where they hung on their usual places on the walls. Sh'ten didn't know what he saw in the depths of the flames, but he did know that there was none of the fear which has lurked in Ryou's eyes for years. Overnight, Ryou has lost an almost debilitating fear. Even Ryou looked puzzled, his forehead scrunching up with his confusion. Obviously, Ryou didn't understand what was happening to him, but he would, very shortly.

Ryou's loss of fear must have been the work of the orb and that was a signal that soon it would be time to start his intensive training to prepare him for the time when he would be expected to march beside his brothers into war against anyone Arago should take a dislike to.  
IS THIS FOR THE BEST? Naaza asked though the shared link.

The question was a foolish one so Sh'ten didn't bother to answer. They all knew it wasn't for the best. How could it possibly be for the best? They were basically giving Ryou to a demon. But, the alternative would be worse. They had to keep Ryou away from the enemy and, now that he'd found the yoroi orb he'd been destined for, he had to become a servant of Emperor Arago. It was as simple as destiny.

"When did you find the yoroi orb?" This came from Rajura, turning his head almost fully to look at Ryou out of his good eye. A very blunt question, but it was one that had to be asked. "Which one is it?"

Ryou stuck a hand in his pocket. "The..."

Anubisu grumbled, "You know what we're talking about, we've been able to feel it on you since you got home. It's the orb that gives you the connection with the enemy and we need to break that connection if you're going to stay with us."

"Break it!" Ryou demanded with a look of shock on his face. "You can't!"

Sh'ten sympathized, but there was no choice. He couldn't be allowed to have a bond with the very people who would want to take him away from them. Perhaps, they would be able to find a way to change the link that would connect Ryou with his brothers instead of strangers. To reassure Ryou, he said, "We must break the connection. You don't want to be taken away from us, do you?" Sh'ten tried to sound casual about it, but the reality was quite frightening. Ryou was a part of their family and it would be heartbreaking to lose him to the enemy. "Which orb did you find? You didn't answer Rajura."

"It has the symbol for fire in it."

"Ah. Rekka."

"Here we are." Rajura announced as they came to a stop outside the large metal doors that led into Emperor Arago's throne room. "Backs straight, everyone. No slouching, Ryou."

No one moved for a moment and Ryou inched closer to Sh'ten, his eyes narrowing at the doors. "I don't like that door."

"No." Naaza put an arm over Ryou's shoulders and gave him a quick, one-armed hug. "But you'll get used to it. We all did. Now do as Rajura says and stand up straight."

Sh'ten stepped ahead, changing places with Rajura, then pushed the doors of Arago's throne room open. As he did, they all felt the power of the demon emperor flow out of the room like a wave upon the beach. Rajura, Naaza, and Anubisu all watched Ryou out of the corner of their eyes to see his reaction. Anubisu kept his position slightly behind Ryou, carefully watching to make sure the boy wouldn't bolt.

Ryou's eyes widened and he wrapped his arms around himself, his face going pale when the wave of power hit him. He didn't run, but he did take a step backwards, bumping into Anubisu. He turned his head, looking over his shoulder, and whispered, "I don't want to go in there."

They could only pray that Arago hadn't heard. "You mustn't speak like that." Anubisu put a hand on Ryou's shoulder. "This is your destiny. You belong here with us." Anubisu was being as comforting as he possibly could, though they all knew from experience that there was nothing they could say to soothe Ryou's fear. I SWEAR IF ARAGO HURTS RYOU-CHAN, I'LL DISMANTLE THE CASTLE! Anubisu promised in the confines of their shared minds, the one place where Arago couldn't hear them.

AGREED. Rajura responded, keeping an eye on the open door. WE SHOULD GO IN NOW. WE'VE WAITED TOO LONG.

The ghostly form of Arago's mask faded into sight, between the two torches, the mask stared blankly back at them, though they all, including Ryou, could feel the pure power behind the mask. With an encouraging nudge from Naaza, Ryou went with them, though he couldn't quite bring himself to look at the mask. They all marched in with Ryou and knelt on one knee to their master as they always did. Ryou stood as if frozen until Rajura put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a push for encouragement.

After all the years in service to their great lord, even Sh'ten couldn't get over the awe he felt at Arago's power. Truly, Arago was a god in his own right. Still, he was only a god. Not family as Ryou and Duo were. If their master did dare to harm the children, it was clearly understood by the brothers that they would be forced take a stand. Family was far more important than Arago.  
"My Lord," Sh'ten started, bowing his head nearly to the floor, "We present for your favor, bringing him into your service, Ryou no Rekka."

A short time later...

Ryou walked out stiffly after Emperor Arago had dismissed them with his deep, ominous voice. Sh'ten had to admit to being impressed with how well Ryou had handled himself. He didn't speak unless spoken to, kept his eyes on the floor where they belonged, and stayed perfectly still through out the interview. He was very good. Terrified, but well behaved.

Ryou was, however, still pale and, now that it was over, Sh'ten could see that Ryou was starting to shake. The doors closed by themselves behind them and as soon as they had clanked shut, Ryou burst into a run, dashing down the hall as fast as he could.

"Stop!" Naaza yelled after him and the four brothers all took after him, afraid of what Ryou might do at such a time. He was still unused to the new power awakening within himself, and one's first encounter with Arago tended to be unnerving at the very best.

Sh'ten had always been faster than the others, so it was he who'd caught up to Ryou first. Ryou showed no signs of slowing, running almost blindly in his rush to get as far from Arago as he could, so Sh'ten had to catch him by the collar and drag him to the floor. They fell together crashing to the floor, but when they hit the ground, Ryou stopped his struggling.

Sh'ten sat up slowly, not daring to let go of Ryou for fear that he would run again, but Ryou just lay on the floor. He let Sh'ten pull him into his arms, much as Sh'ten used to do when Ryou, as a child, would have nightmares and come crying to Sh'ten's chambers. Sh'ten held Ryou and Ryou let him, for the first time in a long time, not thinking that he was too grown-up for such things. Ryou's arms slowly wound around Sh'ten's neck.

"I was so afraid, mama Sh'ten." He whispered, not looking at Sh'ten. "I don't think I've ever been so afraid in all my life. Not even of the fire."

"It's all right, Ryou-chan." Sh'ten stroked Ryou's hair gently, and saw the others finally catch up with them. They stopped a short distance away and let Sh'ten calm Ryou down. "Our master has great power and you felt it, that's all. You've never felt a power like his before, so it upset you"  
Ryou looked up at Sh'ten, his eyes troubled. "Why do you follow him? He's a ghost."

"No. He is the Demon Emperor of our world, Ryou. He is very powerful and we will share in his glory once our war is ended."

Ryou scowled. "I don't want his glory! I don't like him, he makes my stomach hurt. I felt sick just looking at him."

This time, Sh'ten put on his harshest face. "You must not say such things, Ryou! You will be punished for your disloyalty."

Ryou pushed himself to his feet. "I want to talk to Duo. Can I? Why couldn't he come with us"  
Sh'ten stood next, and looked down on Ryou. He noticed, for the first time, that Ryou was nearly as tall as he was. Just two more inches and they would be the same height. Of course, now that the yoroi had claimed him, there would be no more growing for Ryou. "You were very frightened by Emperor Arago, Ryou. How would Duo have felt."

"Duo's much braver than I am, he would have been okay."

Rajura stepped forward and spoke reasonably. "Perhaps, but Duo does not have power as you do, Ryou. He is mortal and that is all. We love him very much, but there is no point in subjecting him to Arago if we don't have to. Duo doesn't need that on his mind, does he."

Ryou thought about this for a moment. "I guess you're right. Still, I want him to know about all of this. He'd never forgive me if I tried to keep it a secret."

Arago-

Rekka was weak. Arago could see the boy's fear as he knelt before the demon. Arago could see his hands tremble at Arago's words and, though he enjoyed the signs of terror his presence caused, Arago detested that his Ma-Sho should be so weak as to show their emotions so blatantly.

'And mine, he is. Trained by my Ma-Sho, Rekka is as much mine as they are. He will fight beside them in the coming war. How dare he be so weak? There can be only one cause for my Ma-Sho have one indulgence. I should not have pampered them.'

Duo, the mortal boy. Worthless.

'There is no power to that boy, he is nothing more than human. I have often heard his name being screamed by my Ma-Sho after some misbehavior and heard his laughter contaminating my realm. A simple boy who takes pleasure in the joys of life. I will not stand for it! My Ma-Sho have been spoiled by allowing them to keep the boy, but no longer!'

Ryou-

Ryou went with his brothers to get Duo and tell him what was going on, he wouldn't be swayed to let Duo stay ignorant about Arago. True, Duo wouldn't be allowed to meet the Emperor Arago, Sh'ten told Ryou, but that was fine. Ryou didn't want Duo to have to go through that. He's just too sensitive. All Ryou wanted was for Duo to know what was happening around them. The trouble began as soon as they reached the room where Rajura had left Duo. Ryou came to a stop just outside the door and stared at it, puzzled but slowly growing frightened. The room didn't feel right. Something really didn't feel right, it was the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, like when he had first seen.

"He's in there!" Ryou almost shouted. Looking around, Ryou saw that the others knew and they stared at the door grimly. "He's in there with Duo."

Ryou threw open the door, no longer feeling the paralyzing fear as it was Duo who was in danger. Duo was still soundly asleep, innocently snoring away under the spell Rajura had put on him. Between Duo and the doorway where Ryou stood with the Ma-Sho behind him, there was the ghost mask of Emperor Arago, hovering in midair. The power was so great, much stronger that it had been in the throne room.

"What are you doing?" Ryou demanded, trying to ignore his brothers quiet protests for him to control himself.

"Ryou, don't address him like that!" Naaza hissed and Ryou could hear fear in his voice. "You'll be punished."

"I don't care!" He turned back to the floating head and opened his mouth before he could think too much about what was going on. "Get away from Duo."

The demon's mask slowly turned toward Ryou, showing him the fearsome pits of its eyes, empty, inhuman eyes. "Do not question me, Rekka! This weakness will be destroyed. I will not be defeated because my warriors are made vulnerable by a mere boy!" Power crackled around the mask, in bursts of red light.

Ryou knew Arago was going to kill Duo.

'Not while I have breath he won't!' Ryou dashed into the room, pulling away from Naaza, and threw himself over Duo's body. The spell Rajura had used must have been incredible, as Duo still slept. "I won't let you hurt him!" Ryou tried to pick Duo up, but could only get him up onto his lap. "You can't hurt Duo."

The mask laughed, a horrible sound. "The boy will die and you will be my warrior, Rekka. You shall follow my will and none of you will remember the boy once I have purified you memories."

Sh'ten-

'What?' Sh'ten stared in disbelief. 'He's going to make us forget Duo.'

I WON'T LET THIS HAPPEN! Sh'ten looked at Rajura who'd spoken. Though there was no expression on his face, Rajura's fists clenched at his sides. ARAGO CAN'T TAKE DUO FROM US!

AGREED. Naaza said in a softer tone. WE WON'T LET THIS HAPPEN.

Anubisu said nothing but let a powerful protective urge sweep across his mind.

They watch as Ryou finally lifted up his head. There was fire in his eyes, blazing fury. His own power, the strength of his will causes the air around him to heat and his hair and clothes are lifted, as if blowing in a wind. The room grew heated and suddenly burst into flames.

They all had to jump back out of the way, but Sh'ten didn't think Ryou could even see anyone but Duo and Arago. The flames lick higher, setting fire to the ceiling now, but Arago didn't care. He wasn't mortal, after all.

"Insolent child!" The demon Emperor thunders. "You dare to set your power against me? You who have not yet worn Rekka even once?" Ryou hugged Duo closer at the same time as his eyes widened and the fire began to intensify.

THIS CAN'T GO ON. Sh'ten told the others. RYOU CAN'T CONTROL HIS POWER ENOUGH TO FIGHT, YET. I'M SENDING THEM AWAY. RAJURA, WAKE DUO NOW, BEFORE I START.

Rajura concentrated on Duo and simply whispered, "Wake."

Duo blinked and yawned until he saw what was going on. "What the...? Holy Hell." His eyes, naturally, fell on Arago first then on the fire surrounding both him and Ryou. Duo tried to stand, but Ryou was holding him too tightly and was too far into his rage to even see that Duo had woken up. Duo tried to talk to Ryou, but to no avail. "Ryou, make the fire go away." Even Duo, so proud of his bravery, was watching the fire and Arago alternatively as the fire came closer and Ryou didn't seem to hear him. "Ryou, wake up! Please, let me go!" Duo was struggling, there was fire just inches from him, but Ryou was stronger and held on tight. Duo's eyes fell on us, still in the doorway. "Mama Sh'ten, help! 'Jura-san, please, what's going on?" He was panicking, and rightfully so. Waking up to a room of fire, with an apparently insane brother, and a demon looking down on one was not easy to take in all at once.

Sh'ten held out his hands and used all the power he could dredge up. "Gate, open!" Sh'ten focused the power under Ryou and Duo, instead of on the wall - as he usually did. It left Ryou no choice. Aware of what was going on or not, Ryou would have to stop the senseless battle. A black void opened under the two boys Sh'ten loved as brothers, and they fell. "Gate, seal!" The black hole vanished, but not before Arago could send one blast of power through. There was nothing any of the Ma-Sho could have done to stop the attack. The floor reappeared just as it had before and Arago turned on his Ma-Sho. The fire vanished as soon as Ryou had, leaving the room charred and smoking.

"You shall suffer for this betrayal." Arago announced in a frighteningly cold voice. "I have made it so they will be separated, they will not have each other in the world you have send them to Sh'ten"  
Sh'ten bowed his head. "Yes, my master." At least the boys were both alive. Sh'ten had suffered protecting the others in the past, so once more would do no harm. He was the leader, after all, so it was his responsibility. He wasn't sorry for what he'd done. Later, he would find Ryou and Duo and they would work something out. At worst, he'd find Duo a place to live in the ningen sekai where he could be safe from Arago. Ryou, though, would have to be brought back. Arago would not suffer Ryou to live if he refused to serve him.

The others bowed with Sh'ten, unexpectedly, and he rather wished that they hadn't. They were signaling that they would take the punishment with Sh'ten. LEAVE. Sh'ten told them firmly. THIS IS MY PLACE, NOT YOURS.

WE'RE IN THIS TOGETHER, 'TEN-CHAN. Naaza told him and the others backed him up. It was too late to argue.

Arago began speaking and delivered upon them the most horrible of all possible punishments. "For your crime, you will lose your children."

They all stood up straight at this pronouncement. They'd expected something bad, but not so nightmarish! "My lord, please..." Naaza tried to plead, but they heard a high-pitched scream from out in the hall. Kayura!

Sh'ten turned to rush for her, but Arago's giant mask was suddenly between the door and himself, forcing Sh'ten to stop. "For this crime, Kayura will be taken from this palace and be trained as a warrior in another part of my world. You will not see her again unless it is in battle and even then you won't know her, nor will she know you."

Anubisu was hyperventilating and Naaza hissed his distress, clutching at Sh'ten's arm.

"Lord, great master," Rajura got on his knees. "Anything but that! Not Kay, she's still a baby!" Another terrified scream ripped though the air, then silence. "Please…"

Arago was heartless as ever. "Silence! She is no longer your concern. Further, for your betrayal and losing Rekka to the ningen sekai, the memories of your children are to be taken from you."

A sudden flash of pain in their minds and it was done.

Sh'ten blinked and looked at his brothers. They all knew what had happened, but not the details. They were being punished. Something precious had been taken from them because they'd disobeyed their master in some way, but they couldn't remember what they'd done or what had been taken from them. There was something missing, wasn't there?

'I'm with my three brothers, but...there is something, no, someone is missing, maybe more than just one person. Who?' Sh'ten looked at the others and they look just as confused as Sh'ten felt. Something was very wrong.

"Master," Naaza asks, examining the burned room. "What's happened here? Did we have a fire"  
Without answering, Arago started to vanish. "Clean this room." Then he was gone, leaving the Ma-Sho to puzzle over the strange absence of…something…and the burnt room.

Duo-

Duo could remember falling, but Ryou wasn't with him when he landed. He landed on a heap of rubble, like a building had been destroyed. Sitting up slowly and looked around, Duo realized that he'd been perfectly correct. It was a destroyed building.

'Man, I'm so confused! There was nothing but fire and a weird ghost thing and Ryou had gone berserk. Then I'm falling and...how did I get here?' Was Ryou still back home? It seemed reasonable, but Duo had been certain that Ryou had fallen with him.

There was something familiar about the place Duo had ended up. Duo stood up shakily and looked around. They were partly in a forest with a simple dirt road leading away from the now destroyed building.

"Ryou!" Duo called out. "Ryou, where are you."

No answer.

With nothing better to do, Duo started to look around the destroyed building. He wondered what had happened here and what it building was, but as he look closer it becomes more and more uncomfortably familiar.

A swing set with red stripes on the metal supports was crushed, flattened to the ground. There was a wooden, picket fence surrounding the place, destroyed in parts, but some of it still standing for some reason. A red door on the building and...and...Duo realized how he knew the place.

Duo froze and stared at the red door. He felt like he couldn't move, just stand and stare in shock at what had become of his childhood home. This was the orphanage, St. Maxwell's, where he and Ryou had first met and where Sister Helen had taught Duo to braid his hair. Duo swallowed hard. 'This can't be. It can't.' Duo took a few tentative steps, but he really don't know what could have caused such devastation.

"Duo."

That voice Duo recognized. Sister Helen! The voice came from a short distance away and Duo found her with her long wimple all around her face on the ground and blood all over the place. She blinked up at Duo weakly and a tiny smile came to her face. "My dearest Duo. I've wanted to see you again for so long."

"Sister!" Duo ran to her side and tried to find the worst wound; maybe he could help her. Something...anything to save her. "Who did this!" Why couldn't he find the worst wound? She was bleeding from everywhere, it seemed. "Who hurt you."

She raised a hand to Duo's cheek. "We were so worried about you, Duo. I'm glad to see you, just one last time."

There was nothing Duo could do to help. Even if he could, she sounded like she was ready for death. Her hand was so cold. "I...I'll get a doctor!" But Duo knew even that was a worthless promise. No doctor could get there in time.

"The Alliance came here and destroyed everything." She made a harsh gasping sound, as if it were hard to breathe. "The children…all the children…lost." The last word choked in her throat. "Oh, my babies."

'No. Please, God, if you want to prove you exist, don't take Sister. She's too good.'

"May you have God's blessings." With that final smiled prayer, Sister Helen died. Her eyes just closed and she was gone.

Duo sat on his knees and began wailing like a child. He hadn't cried in years. 'God, you don't exist! No God would have taken Sister Helen, she...I...oh, please, I want to go home. I wanna go home!' Duo must have sat by her body for nearly an hour before he could control himself again and when he could it was fury that made him think clearly.

His thoughts were bleak and filled with vengence. 'So…the Alliance. We'll see about that. First that demon thing takes me away from Ryou and our brothers and now the Alliance takes Sister Helen away from me.' Duo wanted to kill. For the first time ever, he really want to kill. 'I'll find whoever took sister's life and I will kill them. I will find the demon that took me away from my brothers and I will kill it. Nothing will stop the Shi no Kami (God of Death)!'

Ryou-

Ryou landed with a thud in the apartment he and Duo had used as a hiding spot for the gateway when they went to school. It was a rude awakening to his fury, shaking him out of the stupor he'd been in, letting the fire dance around him, and he pulled the fire back into his mind.

Ryou blinked and looked around at the empty apartment and the closet that he'd just been thrown out of. It was a closet and nothing more. No grand, red columns showing the way home. No feeling of safety, just an empty closet with a few wire coat hangers hanging on a metal rod. Ryou almost instantly forgot how angry he'd been and how the demon had almost killed Duo. He stood up and walked into the closet.

"It's gotta be here." Ryou said nervously, putting hand on the back of the closet wall. Nothing happened. He should have been able to pass right through the wall. He gave the wall another, harder push. "It's gotta be here! I want to go home. Please, I'm sorry," He shouted, begging at the empty air in hopes that someone was listening all the while pushing against the back wall with all his might. "I'll do whatever you want, please let me come home!" Just don't hurt Duo, Ryou added mentally. "Please, I want to go home."

Silence was the only answer he got.

"No!" Ryou's panicked quickly turned to anger and he snarled. "They didn't abandon me! They love me!" There were tears in Ryou's and he kept pounding on the wall. "They wouldn't leave me in this horrible place! They wouldn't leave me alone."

There was still no answer and Ryo was still alone. He stopped beating against the wall, wrapped his arms around himself, and sunk down onto the floor. He had not felt so alone since his granma had died. Duo was gone. They must have kept him, sending Ryou to ningen sekai alone. After all, it was Ryou who'd started the fire. He'd probably almost killed Duo and his other brothers, Ryou really couldn't remember what had happened clearly. What if he had killed them? What if he'd really hurt someone badly? But he had to protect Duo from the demon, right? Maybe mama Sh'ten had known another way to protect Duo and if Ryou had only waited they'd still be all together.

The only bright spot in all of this was that Duo wasn't there, so Ryou had to presume that Duo was safe at home. At least they hadn't punished Duo for Ryou's fire.

Ryou sniffed, trying very hard not to cry. All alone, again. The apartment was cold and Ryou saw snow falling outside the window, but he didn't care right now. The fire had, again, taken his family away. The first time in so many years he'd let the fire loose and it happened all over again. This time, though, it was no mere accident. He'd called the fire deliberately.

Ryou licked his dry lips, determined not to cry. He was strong; he could get through this trouble, just like his brothers had taught him to survive. Ryou let his head fall onto his knees and he started to shiver. It was so cold, but Ryou didn't know what to do about it. There was no fireplace to start a fire. How did mortals keep warm? There were no blankets in the apartment and no food. Didn't mama Sh'ten once say something about having to pay rent for the apartment?

Ryou didn't even know how to get money in the ningen sekai. Where would he go? What kind of job could he get? 'I can do this. I can be strong.' Ryou told himself. 'But if Duo were here, it would be easier.'


	11. Attack in the Dark

Chapter 11: Attack in the Dark 

Trowa-

When Shin was rolled out of the operating room, Catherine did her best to keep calm, but Trowa recognized the signs of her growing panic. A calm, practical girl by nature, Catherine didn't often panic but when she did it usually involved either Shin or Trowa. This time, it was Shin's turn.

For Shin's sake, Catherine hadn't slept all night. She had dark circles under her eyes and her curly hair was limp and unkempt. When she saw Shin, her eyes widened and she put both hands to her mouth. Neither Catherine nor Trowa said a word, but followed the nurses while they wheeled Shin through the hospital to a room.

The nurses made sure Shin was as comfortable as possible - fluffing his pillow and straightening the blankets on his bed -after connecting him to various machines and tried to give Catherine some instructions. When Catherine didn't respond to anything they said, one of the nurses turned to Trowa.

"You're his friend, aren't you? Well, if there's any problem, just press that button. Someone will come right away. He won't wake up for quite some time, if you and the young lady would like to get some dinner or rest."

"May we stay here?"

"If you like. We haven't any cots available, but you're more than welcome to sleep in the chairs." She gestured to the wide, uncomfortable looking chairs in the corners of the room. "The bathroom's there, but if he wakes up and asks to go, please call a nurse, first. We don't want him to fall and hurt himself. Do you have any questions?"

"How long should he sleep?"

"A few more hours, anyway. There's a cafeteria downstairs if either of you are hungry." She gave Catherine a pitying look. "Maybe some hot coffee or tea." With that, she and the other nurse left the room, closing the door discretely behind her.

Trowa knew he wouldn't be able to force Catherine to sleep, not when they didn't know if Shin would survive. He watched while she took Shin's limp hand and held it tightly. With her free hand, Catherine reached for the blanket, as if she were going to pull down the blanket to look at Shin's wound, but she hesitated and took her hand away. "A chair?"

"Are you hungry?" Trowa asked, carrying one of the chairs to the side of Shin's bed for her. "I'll get you something to eat."

"No." Her answer was abrupt. It was probably for the best that Catherine didn't look at the wound. It wasn't likely to be pretty. The bullet had punctured Shin's lung, just missing the heart, the doctors had told them. Shin had come out of a surprisingly quick surgery and was now in the critical care unit, with only hopes and Catherine's prayers to help him. Catherine's eyes were red and swollen, as she sat by his bedside in the hospital.

Shin had tubes all over him, machines whining and beeping at the head of his bed. Shin's usually tanned, rosy face was pale and wan. He looked terrible and it only reminded Trowa of how much of a risk he put both Shin and Catherine by his very presence. There was no doubt that this was his fault.

Trowa made himself ready to fight if necessary. If it had been professions who'd done this, they would surely come back to see if they'd succeeded and, when they found Shin still alive, they would probably finish the job. So leaving Shin alone was utterly unthinkable.

Catherine was willing to do almost anything to protect Shin, but she wasn't a killer and Trowa would rather that she stay that way. Though she was good with her knives, no better knife thrower lived, Catherine was no killer. Even in defense of Shin, she might falter or hesitate. Trowa would not hesitate.

'Shin and Catherine have been the closed I've ever had to a family. I can't let anyone hurt them.' It was only a matter of time before another attempt was made on Shin. 'I will find out who was responsible for this. They will pay and Shin will not be put in danger again.'

Trowa had already pulled the drapes over the windows, so no one could see in and he'd deliberately left the door open, so he could see whoever came and went in the hospital corridor. Catherine had either not noticed or was ignoring Trowa's safety procedures as she'd said not a word, only keeping her eyes on Shin.

"Who are you, Trowa?" Her voice was soft, almost whispered, but Trowa could hear it well enough. So late at night, the hospital was nearly deserted. Slowly, Catherine turned to him, leaning against the door frame. "Why would anyone want to kill you."

Trowa answered with a question. "What makes you think someone wanted to kill me? Maybe they were aiming for Shin."

Catherine didn't change her grim expression. "It was advertised that Left Clown, you, were performing alone tonight and Shin wore your mask to keep up the deception as it couldn't be changed so close to show time. Whoever did this was looking for you."

"It might have been coincidence." Trowa told her. "Some lunatic who got his hands on a gun"  
"Do you really believe that."

Trowa looked out into the corridor rather than meet her eyes, but she persisted.

"Please. Shin loves you like a brother, Trowa. You've become another little brother to me, also. Don't do this to us. If you have problems, let us help, but don't put Shin in danger." Her voice was filled with sadness and accusation and Trowa knew she had a right to it.

"I will find who did this, Catherine. I promise."

Catherine's expression softened, almost as if she pitied Trowa, before turning back to her vigil over Shin and taking her brother's hand in her own. "It's too late, Trowa. That won't help Shin, now"  
Trowa felt his heart sink. Catherine was right, as always. But it was the only thing he could do. He should never have come to live with them in the first place. What was he thinking? Of course he'd only put them in danger.

Seiji-

The night was lit by streetlights and Seiji found his way easily enough. The pull in his mind drew him along, showing him exactly where to go. It was faint, just a feather touch on his mind, but it was enough to tell him where to look. He knew the other couldn't die, not if Seiji could save him.

As he ran, Seiji saw a ghostly image running beside him, a suit of green and white yoroi with a gray facemask and no face behind it. The yoroi felt dark, as if there was some dark magic within it, but it also felt comfortable. Seiji had known the yoroi for a long time and it held no fear for him anymore. It had come to him first long ago in dreams and then when he'd found the small greenish orb in his garden a few days ago, the yoroi had reappeared before him. It had lasted only a moment, late that night, waking him out of a sound sleep. The thing had stood in the corner of his room and just looked at him before vanishing.

'Is he going to be all right?' Seiji thought to the yoroi.

'Suiko will remain intact. The bearer is of no importance. If the bearer should die, we will await a new bearer.' It answered indifferently.

It became apparent to Seiji that the yoroi didn't care what happened to the bearers. They would have to protect each other, because the yoroi surely wouldn't. 'If this other one is like me, then...then what will happen? Does he or she have yoroi, like my own green one? Does it follow them around? Does it care at all or is it nothing but a soulless thing.'

'Watch for Rekka. We need him.' With that last bit of advice, the yoroi was gone, vanished.

Before that moment, Korin, the green yoroi, had done nothing more than sit and look at him. This was the first time it had actually spoken to him. Logically, he should consult a doctor of some kind about the delusions, but Seiji couldn't bring himself to willingly go to a doctor of any kind. Seiji knew he had better keep this information to himself. Luc would be upset if she found out he was seeing things like this, but Seiji had already concluded that it would be best for everyone if he kept this information from Luc.

He ran for a good distance more, faster than he'd ever run before and not stopping for cars when he had to cross the streets. Seiji would simply take his chances and dodge across the traffic. He knew he had to find the hurt one.

Pain!

Seiji collapsed onto the sidewalk when the sharp pain shot through his leg. He, as usual, didn't make a sound of protest, but did look down. His pant leg was starting to turn dark from the blood leaking through and he guessed that he'd been shot. There was no sound, so most likely a silencer had been used.

Ignoring the pain as best as he could, Seiji got to his feet and scanned the shadows, trying to find the attacker. He wouldn't get to the hurt one if he took too much time to deal with the attacker.  
The shadows moved and out stepped someone Seiji had known would come sooner or later. Heero, holding his gun firmly in one hand with a stone cold expression. Heero was dressed, still, in the black one-piece flight suit that fit skintight. The one they'd used for training and the same thing Luc had found Seiji wearing when he'd gotten home.

The two stared at each other. "Mission: retrieve or eliminate Hiro." Heero said in a dull monotone, his gaze never wavering. "Will you allow yourself to be retrieved."

Seiji shook his head. "No." He knew what it would mean to go back to doctor J - torture and pain. Being alone again and thrown into the Dark Room. There was no way he was going to risk that. 'I'll never let myself go back into the Dark Room again.'

Heero nodded once, showing that he understood and aimed for Seiji's heart, a quick death. It was merciful, something Heero didn't often bother with.

Unfortunately for Heero, Seiji wasn't ready to die, yet. There was too much he had to do. Seiji jumped up, further than was humanly possible, and landed behind Heero. Heero managed to catch him once more, in the arm this time, with another bullet, but Seiji ignored it and swung a fist at Heero's face while his other hand grabbed the gun.

It was a silent battle, but fierce. Heero refused to let go of his gun, grabbing a chunk of Seiji's hair and wrenching it painfully. Seiji grimaced, but didn't give in so easily. Heero suddenly swung his leg and kicked Seiji in the ribs. Seiji, this time, couldn't help but grunt with pain. He recovered quickly and kneed Heero in the gut. Heero's eyes widened slightly, but that was the only reaction.

The fight was too well matched, it would take too long and Seiji knew he had to hurry or the hurt one would be lost. Seiji made a desperate move to finish the fight early and let go of Heero's gun. Seiji rolled away and into an alley, hoping that the darkness where the streetlights didn't illuminate would confuse Heero for just a moment, long enough to find a weapon. This was the first time in a long time that Seiji hadn't carried his gun and, of course, he was now regretting it, especially as this alley seemed to be completely empty of anything that could be used as a weapon.

Heero walked calmly into the alley, his eyes shifting rapidly, trying to find the tiniest movement to spot Seiji. 'How much Heero has changed.' Seiji thought. Heero was no longer the child with angry eyes Seiji remembered, but a lithe, dangerous looking young man with death in his eyes. 'He is still sweet looking.' Seiji added, but he knew Heero was here for nothing more than to kill him. Any friendship or love they'd shared as children seemed to be gone, from Heero's point of view, anyway.  
On Seiji's part, he regretted not one moment of their time together. It had been short, but the only friendship he could ever remember. If only he could get Heero to run away with him instead of serving doctor J.

"You left me, Seiji"

Seiji's eyes widened when Heero said this, but he said nothing to give away his position. Perhaps Heero wasn't as cold as Seiji had thought.

"You left me with them." Heero came further into the alley until he was standing nearly beside Seiji and Seiji raised a fist, ready to pound Heero in the temple, sure to bring him to his knees. Seiji swung, but Heero narrowly managed to crouch in time, avoiding Seiji's fist. They were at it again, fighting for Heero's gun.

Suddenly, there was a sharp thwack and Heero's head jerked forward before his eyes rolled into his head and he slumped to the ground.

Ryou was there, the boy from school who'd somehow seen Seiji's mind and memories when they'd touched, dressed in a wrinkled kimono and looking rather strained, as if he'd been crying. He stood over Heero's fallen body with a long two by four board held tightly in his hands. Ryou watched Heero for a moment, just to make sure he wasn't going to get up again, and then turned furious eyes to Seiji.

Ryou was the one that Seiji felt the strongest connection with, but the two by four in Ryo's hands, held like a baseball bat, was threatening and he was glaring at Seiji, not at all like the friendly, yet shy, boy he'd met just a short time ago.

"I should have let him kill you, you know."  
Seiji stepped closer to Ryou and cocked his head to the side. "Why?"

Ryou looked down at the wooden weapon he'd found somewhere and said, "You're one of the enemy. My brothers told me so and that whole thing that happened in school is your people trying to confuse me." He looked up at Seiji, with a black look. "You're going to kill my brothers if I let you."

Seiji had no idea what Ryou was talking about, but he still felt close to Ryou. When they'd touched in school, something had happened and even now that they weren't touching Seiji could feel how confused and angry Ryou was. "I want to kill no one."

Ryou nodded. "I didn't think so, but I can't let you hurt my brothers. Who's he?" Ryou looked down at Heero who'd fallen onto his face with the gun still clutched like some treasure in his hand.

"A friend."

Ryou raised an eyebrow. "Do your friends usually try to kill you?"

Seiji shrugged and knelt to roll Heero over onto his back. While he checked Heero for any life threatening injuries, he addressed Ryou. "Do you feel the pull?" Seiji noted the long cut on the back of Heero's head. There was a lot of blood, but it really wasn't that serious. A light touch ensured that the wound healed and that Heero would wake up without even a headache.

"You mean that someone's hurt and we have to do help them?"

Seiji nodded to show he'd heard, but tried to concentrate on Heero. He really didn't want Heero to be permanently hurt.

Ryou continued. "I felt it earlier and some weird things happened."

"What sort of weird things?"

Ryou looked away, unwilling to talk about it. "Doesn't matter. Anyway, I think the person is dying. I plan on letting him die."

Seiji said nothing as he took Heero's gun and slipped it into his jacket. Getting no reaction, Ryou continued. "He's like you, one of the enemy. He's going to hurt my brothers, maybe kill them in the war that's coming and I won't let that happen." Ryou crossed his arms sullenly.

"Then you should have let me die. Heero is very efficient and would have probably done it quite well had you not interfered. He's had more training than I."

Ryou looked uncomfortable and scratched the ground with his toe. "I don't know. I'm just not sure. I...I don't like the thought of you getting hurt." Seiji could almost see Ryou blushing in the shadows and wondered what Ryou would look like with a blush.

Seiji took Heero under the arms and pulled him behind a dumpster where he wouldn't be seen from the street. At least he would be fairly safe here until he woke up, but there was little more that Seiji could do. Heero would probably wake up shortly anyway and starting hunting for Seiji again.  
Finally ready, Seiji looked at Ryou with his one good eye. "I have to go now."

Ryou frowned. "I'm not going with you."

"I didn't ask you to." Seiji took off running again, as well as he could with two bullets still in him. Pain could be ignored, but blood lose was harder to deal with. He'd have to bandage himself when he got to wherever he was going.

Before Seiji had even gotten out of the alleyway, he was blocked, bumping into something hard and furry. A tiger. A giant white tiger.

Ryou rushed passed Seiji and embraced the huge animal. "Byakuen!" Ryou shouted happily. "Oh, I missed you so much! How did you get here? Can I go home?" The tiger, of course, didn't answer, but licked Ryou's face almost lovingly. Ryou sighed. "All right, then. Keep your secrets, Yaku-chan."

The tiger looked at Seiji, seeming to think about him. Seiji stood as still as possible, though he knew Ryou probably would not consort with killer animals, it was better to be safe than sorry. Byakuen sniffed Seiji's hand and then walked slowly around him before looking back at Ryou. This continued for a few minutes before Byakuen purred loudly and rubbed against Seiji's leg and licked his hand with a sandpaper tongue.

Ryou seemed surprised. "He likes you, Seiji."

Seiji couldn't wait for this! He stepped passed the tiger and started running again. He had wasted to much time with Heero and then Ryou. The other needed him!

Ryou-

Ryou, still kneeling with Byakuen, watched Seiji run. "He's the enemy. That's what the others said." Ryou watched Seiji go, sadly. How come, just when he found the guy of his dreams, it turned out to be an enemy? Life was unfair! To top it all off, Seiji was running off to save another enemy and Ryou had no idea how to feel about anything anymore.

Byakuen remained silent, but stared after Seiji with Ryou.

"I mean, I really shouldn't help him do anything, right? I should kill him if I can." Ryou paused, sorry when Seiji finally ran around a corner and vanished. "Even if they don't love me anymore, I still love my brothers and killing Seiji would help to save them."

Ryou really -REALLY- wanted to go with Seiji and help whoever was pulling at his heart. Ryou could feel the pain of the other person so clearly that it almost hurt him, too. Ryou didn't like it, as if a part of his was dying with the other one. The poor person was in such pain and Ryou knew if he went with Seiji he could help make the person better, but it was an enemy. Seiji himself was an enemy, and Ryou definitely shouldn't be feeling this way about enemies. Not even mysterious, silent enemies with such unusual golden hair. Not even enemies with a perfect, beautiful violet eye.  
But, if Ryou's brothers didn't want him because he'd started to fire to fight the their emperor, Arago, then maybe he was now their enemy, too. Oh, it was just too confusing.

Byakuen turned and leaned into Ryou, as if trying to give comfort and Ryou took what he could, returning the hug. "I just don't know what to do."

"Ryou no Rekka, you are in too much pain to deal with what is about to happen." Ryou turn quickly at the familiar voice and found the old man who had given him the orb that first day of school. The old man with the flat hat and monk's robes with the magic feeling staff in one hand. "I am going to make the pain go away." The old man lowered his staff and aimed it at Ryou.

Byakuen slowly stood, as did Ryou, and eyed the stranger warily. The large tiger started to rumble it's uneasiness and took a step toward the old man. "Be at ease, youja." The old man said in a soothing tone. "I will not hurt your friend. I will simply make his inevitable choice easier."

Ryou's eyes narrowed and he tried to jump out of the way, but the power was too fast and caught him in the chest. The blast of power froze Ryou for just a moment, holding him with a look of pain on his face, but it quickly ended, leaving Ryou to slump slightly and stagger a bit, but not quite fall.

A heartbeat of time passed.

Ryou blinked and looked around. He was in an alley, but why? Byakuen nudged Ryou cautiously and Ryou absently patted Byakuen's head. "Come on, Yaku-chan, we've gotta go help that other guy." With no concerns at all, Ryou took off running.

Byakuen-

Byakuen watched Ryou go for a moment before turning to the shadows and growling. He'd not expected to find his dear friend like that when he'd gone to the ningen sekai. Byakuen wanted to bring his missing friend home, but none of the other humans in the other world would open the gate for him. He was forced to open his own gateway; a trick he'd learned long ago. Ryou felt changed now, as if his mind had been altered, somehow.

"I am sorry." The old human man stepped out into the light more. "But he needs to be confident to win the coming battle."

Byakuen grumbled angrily. How dare this human touch Ryou with magic!

"Don't be too angry." The old man said. "You have no reason to trust or like me, but I do this for the world and all mankind. This is the way it must be. He will survive better this way, with no one to depend on but his team mates."

Byakuen debated quickly on whether or not he should attack the old man. It would be simple to kill the monk, he was old and feeble, but Ryou was getting away and going toward the ones he'd just said were his enemies. The old man deserved to die for touching Ryou and taking away such treasured memories, but Ryou needed him more. What if these others tried to hurt Ryou?

Byakuen contented himself with roaring at the old man and swiping at him with his claws, before taking off after Ryou.

Trowa-

"What do you want?" He demanded to know. He remembered as Xiu, Shin's best friend, from the morning at the beach. Xiu had arrived running down the hall in such a state that Trowa nearly brought out his gun just as a precaution.

Xiu looked much healthier now, but he was obviously worried and shoved passed Trowa without a word. Trowa was more than a little surprised to be thrown into a wall by Xiu's seemingly unthinking push. Xiu was immensely strong, almost unnaturally so.

Catherine looked up at the noise and broke out into a smile. "Oh, Xiu! Thank goodness you came! How did you know we were here?"

Xiu didn't take his eyes off Shin. "I just had a feeling. What happened?"

"He was shot during a performance." Catherine choked a bit. "We...don't know if he's going to make it."

"What?" Xiu looked horrified and afraid, but went to the other side of the bed to sit with Shin also. "What can we do?"

"The doctors did all they could, but..." Her voice trailed away and the room was, once again, silent but for the steady beep of the heart monitor.

"Please," Xiu whispered. "Don't die, Shin. I have things I need to tell you."

Trowa turned away from the intimate scene, and went back to watching the hall. Another person was walking very quickly down the hall, one of the other people from the beach, Xiu's cousin, Wufei. Wufei didn't look at all happy to see Trowa waiting in the hall. Wufei said nothing to Trowa, at first, but gave him a look that said, 'you people, again.'

Wufei looked into the room and seemed relieved to see Xiu. He opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but changed his mind. Instead, he looked back at Trowa and motioned for them both to go out into the hall. Trowa followed and let the door close behind him. He was absolutely certain that neither Catherine nor Xiu would hurt Shin so he was safe in there.

"What happening?" Wufei asked suspiciously. "Xiu collapsed at home and told me that someone was in trouble and he had to go help. What happened to Shin and how did Xiu know that he was hurt."

Trowa shook his head. "I don't know, but I am beginning to think it has something to do with the 'treasure' Shin brought up from the ocean floor." He was careful of what he told Wufei, a total stranger. Trowa didn't know Wufei, but he felt like he could be a dangerous person.

Wufei looked thoughtful and put a hand to the bridge of his nose, an unconscious sign that he was thinking. "A treasure? What was it?"

Trowa saw no harm in telling. "A small, pale blue glass ball."

"So you know about them, do you?" Wufei and Trowa were both surprised to find someone listening in on their conversation.

"What are you doing here, Touma?" Wufei asked his friend. Well, really, Touma was more Xiu and Quatre's friend, but Wufei respected Touma's intelligence, if not maturity.

Touma was standing with his arms crossed over his chest and leaning against a wall. "Shin is hurt and I came to see if I could help."

"How did you know? Xiu said the same thing." Wufei sounded very irritated at all the mystery.  
"I just know. There are two others coming, too, but I don't know who they are yet. Excuse me." Touma walked passed them and into the room where Shin was.

Wufei was nearly ready to explode. "I hate mysteries! Why won't they explain what's going on"  
"Maybe they can't." Trowa suggested. "It could be that they don't understand what's going on themselves."

"Possibly." Wufei conceded, but then looked at Trowa shrewdly. "Perhaps you can explain yourself, then."

Trowa said nothing but he was now on guard. Did Wufei know about his work with the Gundams? How could he? As far as Trowa could tell, Wufei was just a normal kid who worked at a restaurant. Then again, he'd only known Wufei for a few hours so anything was possible.  
When he got no answer, Wufei stepped a little closer. "I can see how you move, like a trained fighter. You've closed the curtains, a good strategic move if you don't want anyone to see in. I know you have a gun under your coat, the outline shows when you lean right, and you are guarding the door of a shooting victim. Is it possible that you know a little more about this than you're telling? If I remember what Xiu told me, you and Shin work as a pair during your act, like doubles. What do you know?"

Trowa remained silent. So much for thinking he was just an ordinary boy.

A sudden movement caught them both unaware and yet another person was walking down the hall with a purposeful stride and faint limp. A tall, pale young man with bright golden hair. "Who are you?" Trowa asked, barring the stranger from entering the hospital room.

The stranger looked down at the arm barring his path and looked as if he was debating with himself whether he should fight or talk at this point. Any confrontation was avoided when the door behind Trowa opened suddenly, showing a bright blue head.

"Hey, Seiji, right?" Trowa didn't turn from the uninvited guest when Touma, Quatre's friend, spoke. Touma touched Trowa's arm. "You can let them in. This is Seiji, I've seen him at school. He's safe."

"How do you know?" Wufei asked.

"He's one of us." Touma replied. "Come on in, Seiji. He's in here."

Seiji went passed Trowa and the soldier noticed that Seiji was bleeding, quite a bit from wounds in his leg and arm, and didn't seem to care. Seiji walked with a slight limp, but made no sign that he noticed his clothes were soaked with blood.

Seiji-

Seiji put a hand over the wound in Shin's chest. The minute their skin touched, the circle was complete and the reaction was dramatic. Xiu put a hand to his head, Touma bit his lip, and Seiji almost fainted while Shin smiled even in his sleep. They could all feel Ryou's mind join with theirs, also. They were complete and together, as they should be. They all knew everything about each other.

Seiji closed his eyes and concentrated, letting all of his power flow into the wound. Shin groaned, but Seiji didn't stop. For several minutes they stayed like this, until Shin's eyes opened and he looked at Seiji.

"I knew you'd come." Shin whispered, before his eyes fell closed again and his whole body relaxed.  
The girl Shin knew as Catherine was beside herself. "Oh, my God!" She shouted. "What was all that? You...you were both glowing green!" Her eyes were wide and frightened, but she looked at the machines attached to Shin and saw that he was completely healed. She turned back to Seiji. "Who are you?"

"A friend of theirs." Seiji pointed to Shin. He indicated Touma and Xiu who watched him with amazement. The circle that connected them had faded slightly when Seiji had taken his hand off Shin, but it was still there.

"If you can heal Shin so easily, why don't you heal yourself?" Wufei asked.

Seiji had no idea what was happening to them, but accepted the fact that it was. He didn't know how he was now mentally connected with the four others, but he was. He knew Wufei was Xiu's cousin and that Touma was a little worried about what his adoptive family would say once he got home.  
"I have never been able to heal myself." Seiji answered. "I can only heal others." He said this as he kept his eyes on Xiu. They all knew that Xiu was in love with Shin, now that they were connected, and it was easy to see in his reaction. Xiu was just smiling and touching Shin's face with his big, meaty hand, tenderly as if he were afraid he was going to hurt Shin.

Touma and Xiu were smiling, now and happy to see Shin was going to live. They didn't question Seiji's ability, they just accepted it and for that, Seiji was glad. He started to back out of the room now that everyone was coming in to see Shin.

Wufei-

Trowa and Wufei both came into look at the medical machines and, yes, they were accurate. Shin had been healed in seconds, and was now just sound asleep. When they turned to ask Seiji a question, he was gone.

Wufei grunted. "Now we'll never see him again."

"Yes, we will." Xiu told him confidently. "He just doesn't like big groups of people very much, so he left. He'll be back." Xiu went back to stroking Shin's cheek while Touma, for some reason, seemed happy enough to rub Shin's feet.

'Funny.' Wufei thought. 'I thought Touma didn't like Shin.'

Seiji-

Seiji found the room completely by accident. He was retracing his steps, trying to find the exit when he found the room. It was pure chance that he happened to turn his head at the right time and see the name on the door of the hospital room. Date Shigeru.

Seiji paused and frowned. Grandfather? Luc never did tell him exactly where grandfather Date was.  
Seiji pushed open the door and went in. The room was quiet and the lights dimmed. Only one bed was in the room and the patient was laying down with the usual steady blipping of the heart monitor. Seiji went to the bedside to find a face that was barely recognizable, thin and withered. The old man was nearly bald, not with the long white hair Seiji remembered. He was connected to several machines by tubes and wires were taped to his forehead and heart. On the table next to the bed was a crystal vase full of wildflowers.

Slowly, the old man's eyes opened and he looked at Seiji. "Who are you?"

"I am Seiji, grandfather"

The old man seemed to think, trying to focus on something that he just couldn't quite understand. "Seiji? I don't know any Seiji."

He was grandfather Date! Seiji was certain of that. Despite how much older and more feeble he looked, that was grandfather. "Don't you remember me?"

"No." He shook his head weakly. "No. I don't know any boys like you. Would you like to meet my wife? She's around somewhere..." His voice trailed away as his eyes wandered the room. "She promised that she would come to see me."

Seiji felt his heart starting to thud hard in his chest when he realized something was wrong. His grandmother had died more than twenty years ago. "I...I believe grandmother is gone, grandfather." He said softly. How could grandfather forget?

"She's right here. I know she is. Wait," Grandfather Date paused. "Is she dead? I...I forget so much now. Is she dead, boy?"

"Yes."

"I need my newspaper, boy. Where is it? Those nurses are always hiding it on me." He started to feel around on the bed with his hands, getting agitated. Seiji found the newspaper on the bedside paper and handed it to his grandfather. His grandfather promptly put it down and didn't even glance at it. "Who are you? Do I know you?" He looked at Seiji again, for all the world as if he'd never seen him before.

"I am Seiji, grandfather." Seiji repeated.

"I don't have any grandchildren, young man. You must have the wrong room. Go away now, I want to read my newspaper. Have you seen it? Those nurses are always hiding it on me." He began to futilely search for it again, not noticing that it lay only inches from his hand where he'd just set it down. "My wife knows where it is. Have you seen her? My wife promised to visit today."

Seiji, started to back out of the room, completely overwhelmed, and let the door close between his grandfather and himself. The old man didn't notice and just kept looking for his newspaper and asking for his wife, so long dead.

In the hall he bumped into someone and turned to find Ryou standing there with a worried frown. "What's wrong? You're pale and shaking." Ryou put his hands on Seiji's shoulders, to comfort him. "I felt that you saved the other, Shin, but you're so upset."

Seiji didn't give a thought as to why Ryou was here. He didn't think about how Ryou had said he would let Shin die or about enemies or the magic that bound them together. His only thoughts were on the shell of a man he remembered as his strong, confident, witty grandfather, reduced to a hospital bed and endlessly searching for his newspaper and his long dead wife.

Seiji opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He tried again, but his eyes were burning and his throat clenched shut. Failing to speak at all, just when he thought he should speak, Seiji started to cry. He wrapped his arms around himself, trying to stop himself from trembling and trying to be strong, but...but..."My grandfather didn't know me." He managed to choke out.

Arms wrapped around Seiji as Ryou pulled him in close, hugging him tightly. "Oh, Seiji, I'm so sorry." Was all that Ryou could manage to say and Seiji broke down in tears. He could feel them running down his face and was shamed. Weakness. Nothing but weakness. "Seiji, you're bleeding!" Ryou had seen the large wet spots of blood on Seiji.

Seiji mumbled, "I want to go home."

Ryou draped one of Seiji's arms over his shoulders and let Seiji lean on him as they walked away. Neither of them said anything, as it really wasn't necessary. Thanks to the newly strengthened link, Ryou knew where Seiji lived and knew that Seiji's sister would be waiting for him. He knew Seiji wouldn't want any of the hospital's doctors examining him.

Noin-

Watching from down the hall, Noin was in tears herself. She held a bouquet of wildflowers, her grandfather's favorite, and a newly found picture of her grandmother, taken shortly before her death. It would make grandfather happy. She had wanted to tell Seiji about this herself, but she kept chickening out. Noin had always prided herself on her courage, so she hated that she'd done this to Seiji. She hadn't meant to, of course, but she really didn't think he'd find out by visiting the hospital, what with his fear of doctors.

Their grandfather Date had developed Alzheimer's several years ago and it had slowly gotten to the point where she couldn't take care of him anymore. Fortunately, this hospital had a private wing for this sort of case and Noin could afford it. It was worth the price to have him comfortable in his last days. She knew it wouldn't be long before he left this world.

She'd come to the hospital after Seiji had run off earlier, she honestly didn't even know that he'd come here. Seiji was very good at eluding followers. Noin had to come to check on their grandfather, as she did every week, and it was just coincidence that she'd seen him there.  
After watching Seiji walk away with the help of his black haired friend, Noin wiped the tears off her face and straightened her shoulders. That was the most emotion Seiji had shown since he'd reappeared. She walked to the door Seiji had just come out of and knocked before going in. "Hello, grandfather. I thought I'd come for a visit and I brought you some new flowers"

"Who are you?"

Noin firmly kept the smile on her face and refused to cry. She was used to this by now. She shouldn't be so upset, should she? "I'm Lucy, grandfather." She said, using her hated childhood nickname. "See, I brought a picture of grandmother." She held it up in front of his face so he could see it properly.

"Oh!" Grandfather Date delightedly reached out with her skeletal hand and took the photo. "Oh, my dearest." He stared at the picture lovingly, though she knew by morning, the photo would be both lost and forgotten. This was the way it always happened. Noin swallowed hard, she couldn't cry in front of grandfather Date. It would only upset and frighten him.

She would cry later.

Later that night-

Noin sat in the study of the home she shared with Seiji. It was getting to be quite comfortable, now. Not that any of that was Noin's doing, it was all thanks to Seiji. He had spend many, many hours rebuilding the failing house, returning it to the homey environment she'd known as a child. She'd even bought herself a computer so she could work from home.

A knock at the door jarred her attention. It was Zechs, still in his fancy clothes and shining bird-like helmet, holding some small package in his gloved hands. Anyone who didn't know Zechs would pass him off as a fop, but Noin had known him for far too long to do something that reckless. Zechs was very intelligent, cunning, and just as dangerous as he was eccentric.

"Come in." Noin welcomed him with a wave of her hand. "I wasn't expecting you today."

Zechs stood there awkwardly, which was unusual for him, and said nothing for a minute.

"Is something wrong, Zechs-kun?" Noin asked, concerned. If he had any problems, she was the first one to rush to help him.

"Not exactly. It's to do with Seiji."

Noin frowned. "What is it?"

"An Alliance crew found a base on a moon several days ago. There was a small battle and they captured the base, but everyone on it got away. They believe it was a rebel base that is planning something against the Alliance, some kind of military strike. I had a contact who gave me so interesting information. Nearly everything was destroyed during the attack, but there was something I think will interest you." Zechs handed over a small envelope. "I should show it to Treize, but I think you need to see it more."

Noin opened the envelope and let a computer disk fall into her hand. She cast a look at Zechs before going to her computer and loading the disk in.

The contents of the disk were enough to turn her stomach.

**Entry 1: Subjects taken today. Code names, Heero Y and Hiro D Male subjects, approximately 6 years old good physical condition. Heero Y was bought from a mercenary for fifty dollars. Hiro D was taken from a street corner while waiting for family (be warned to watch for family looking for him)**

Several files were corrupted so Noin had to move to the next complete one she found.

**Entry 17: Both subjects respond well to training, though Heero Y is far superior in obedience. Hiro D must be constantly coerced into every aspect of training. Dark Room Therapy deemed necessary for Hiro D.**

'What the hell is Dark Room Therapy?' Noin asked herself.

**Entry 18: I've put the two subjects together as a team, tonight. They will learn to depend on each other and be, I believe, a very effective fighting Force. Heero Y will encourage Hiro D's obedience while Hiro D will Teach Heero Y patience.**

Again, the disk had missing files, so she skipped to the ones she could find.

**Entry 31: The soldiers who guard him raped Heero Y last night. I will have to give them a stern talking to. This was not supposed to happen until Heero Y and Hiro D were ready to mentally deal with it. Still we were planning it eventually. They will have to be used to this sort of treatment if they are ever captured and they will both have to learn to deal with both the emotions and pain of rape so they will not crumble under this sort of interrogation. Hiro D attacked this morning after finding out who raped Heero Y. He is a grave disappointment, even in this. I wouldn't have minded so much, but he lost control and attacked without orders. Then he attacked me and I had to punish him and accidentally took his eye. Cybernetic eye will perhaps replace the real one.**

Noin felt herself start to shake and her vision was turning red with rage. 'Seiji? My Seiji? This sick bastard took Seiji's eye!'

**Entry 32: Cybernetic eye was a failure. Hiro D.'s body rejected the implant and I have decided to put his training on hold. He is practically useless with only one eye, so Heero Y will be taken to another part of the complex to be trained alone. Hiro will be kept as back up.**

The entry's continued in a sort of journal fashion and Noin kept getting angrier and angrier. So know she knew basically what had happened to Seiji, but she still didn't know whom had done it. Not only that, but there was another child out there somewhere and, perhaps, they were still imprisoned by this monster. She read the disk several times over, taking almost two hours to make sure she had all the information she needed off it, before she turned and looked at Zechs, standing so still and quite.

"Tell me everything you know." She grumbled, her fists clenching and unclenching.

Continued...


	12. Jitters

Chapter 12 : Jitters

Trowa-  
Hospital-

Trowa walked into the hospital room with Catherine at his side, only to find all the crowded around Shin's bed completely baffled as to how Shin was suddenly so perfectly well. Three doctors, all talking quite loudly about what had happened and trying to get Shin to say something about the miracle, surrounded shin.

"You all worry too much." Shin smiled serenely at everyone around him. "I'm better, so I want to leave. I really don't understand what the problem is."

"Young man," One of the doctors said, sounding frustrated. "You've just recovered from a wound that should have taken weeks to fully heal. This is a medical miracle! Aren't you even the least bit curious about what's happened to you."

Apparently, while he had been messing around with Shin, Seiji had also fixed Shin's toothache, taken away all Shins' allergies, and Shin no longer had dandruff. It was all side effects, Trowa believed. Seiji had been so intent on healing Shin that his power had spilled over to correct a few other, minor problems.

"Not really." Shin answered calmly. "Fetch me some clothes, will you? I really should... Ah!" He spotted Trowa and Catherine standing behind the crowd of doctors. "Come in, come in! Don't just stand there. It's nice to see some familiar faces."

Catherine exchanged a look with Trowa and they nodded together. It was time to tell Shin what the plan was, even though they were both certain that he wasn't going to like it one little bit. They forced their way into the small room, crammed full with not only Shin, but three doctors, Xiu sitting next to Shin on the bed, and Touma glaring at everyone from his perch on the wide windowsill.

"This is irritating." Touma grumbled. . "Hospitals are supposed to be quiet places, you know? I can't hear myself think with all this chattering."

"No kidding. How's Shin supposed to get any rest with all this noise?" Xiu and Touma stood up at the same time and glared at the doctors. "Out! Out!" Xiu shouted, pushing one of the older gentlemen out of the room. "He's tired, give him a break."

Touma backed Xiu up by waving his hands at the doctors. "We'll call if he needs anything, but go away." With a few complaints, the doctors all left and Trowa noticed someone in the room he hadn't noticed a moment ago.

Chang Wufei sat in a corner of the room, in the only chair, reading with small wire rim glasses on and apparently ignoring the noise around him. Once all the doctors had been chased away, Xiu went back to his seat at Shin's side and Trowa was once again reminded of what he'd heard Catherine say to Wufei when they'd first arrived at the Fan Family Restaurant about how Xiu and Shin were most definitely in love. It wasn't hard to see, looking at how Xiu watched Shin so adoringly.

Touma, however, didn't watch them as Xiu set a basket of food on bed for Shin. Instead, he went back to his seat at the window and silently stared out of the hospital room, watching the birds outside, apparently not interested in the least about Shin "Mama was worried you wouldn't eat enough in here." Xiu said happily as he handed Shin a rice ball from the basket. He didn't seem to notice that Touma's irritation wasn't entirely directed at the doctors. "She said you're already too skinny and she didn't want you to waste away."

Shin took the rice ball gratefully and began munching, before looking at Trowa. "So, when can I get out of here?"

Catherine licked her lips, knowing that what she and Trowa had to say would be hard for Shin to hear, but they had decided it was the safest course of action. "I think you should stay on Earth." She blurted out Shin without wasting any time.

"What? Why?" Shin sat up suddenly, looking both betrayed and confused. He looked at Catherine. "I'm fine now, no more nightmares, I swear! There's not even a bit of pain from the bullet shot. You can't make me stay on Earth."

Xiu and Touma looked at Trowa with different emotions. Xiu seemed happy that Shin would be hidden away from danger, and Touma looked, well, pouty. Not that Catherine or Trowa were paying them much attention.

Catherine bit her lip. "Don't think of it as a punishment." She sounded as if she were trying hard to be cheerful, but failing miserably. "Think of it as a vacation. You can go swimming all you like, now, and you'll have lots of time to spend with Xiu."

Touma's eyes narrowed at that and Trowa almost swore he heard Touma start to growl.  
'I don't have time to deal with Touma's problem.' Trowa decided. 'He and Xiu will have to work it out.' Instead, Trowa told Shin, "I'm certain that whoever shot you was after me, as you have no enemies. Whoever is looking for me may target you again to get at me. I would prefer it if you were somewhere safe and fairly hidden. I will lure this person away." He looked at Catherine for support.

"Yes," Catherine took Shin's hand. "I'll go back to the circus with Trowa and we're going to tell everyone, even ringmaster and the other circus people, that you'd died. That the REAL Left Clown survived, that's the truth, anyway."

"So you hope to lure the attacker out of hiding?" Wufei asked, looking at them for the first time. "That is a good plan, I believe. You get Shin nicely out of the way and set yourself up as a target. You'll just have to make sure you don't die before this assassin gets to you, also."

Trowa nodded. He fully understood the risks, but he just couldn't let Shin get involved in this anymore than he all ready was. It was not right that Shin should suffer for Trowa. Just not right.  
Shin still didn't like it. "You can't put yourself in danger like that!" Shin started to get out of bed, but Xiu silently held him down. "You'll get killed! I'd have died if Seiji hadn't been able to heal me."

"That's why I will go alone to do this. No one but Catherine and the people in this room will know the truth and, I believe, we can trust everyone here. I won't let you get hurt again."

"What am I going to do on Earth?"

Shin-

"You can stay with my family." Shin was surprised that Touma had even offered and so was everyone else, apparent. They looked at Touma like he'd just grown a second head. Shin could feel the confusion and concern coming from Xiu and Wufei's face clearly showed that he was confused about the offer as well. They were the two who knew Touma best, aside from Touma's brother Quatre, so Shin assumed that they knew this was out of character behavior.

Touma shrugged, not bothering to mask his emotions from Shin or Xiu. He made no pretense of liking Shin in the least. If nothing else, he was an honest guy. "It'll make Xiu happy, so I'll do it. I don't have to like Shin, but I'll do it."

"You don't have to." Shin said belligerently. The last thing he wanted was to have to live with some guy who barely put up with him.

Touma didn't look at Shin, but let the new link between them do all the talking for him. He let loose what little control on his mind that he had and a flood of emotions, jealously, being the forefront and Shin moaned, closing his eyes at the almost physical pain.

Xiu, unfortunately, felt it also and glared at Touma. "Stop it!" He put a protective hand on Shin's back. "Leave him alone, Touma."

There was a still, tense moment in the room until Touma looked away, pulling all his emotions in on a tight leash, and Shin could separate himself from Touma's harsh feelings. 'God, that hurt!' Shin thought as he sat up properly. 'That jerk didn't have to throw it in my face! We all know he's got a crush on Xiu, he doesn't have to be bitter!' Then again, Shin paused, maybe that's why Touma had been angry. Maybe he upset that Xiu knows but hasn't done anything about it. I wonder if Xiu's even said anything to Touma about it?

"Are you all right?" Xiu asked him, gently.

Shin blinked. "Yeah, I'll be all right. Look," He said to Touma. "I don't want to stay with you anymore than you want to stay with me, to be honest. I'll find somewhere else."

Touma snorted and retreated to a corner of the room, his arms crossed over his chest and still glaring at no one in particular.

Shin looked hopefully at Xiu. "I don't suppose..."

"Sorry, but Wufei's getting married soon and we're leaving the planet soon." Xiu really hated himself for saying it, but he couldn't let Wufei down, he'd promised to come to the wedding.

Touma spoke up. "I won't hurt your friend, Xiu. You don't have to worry about him at my home...whoa!" Touma's eyes got real wide suddenly, as did Shin's and Xiu's. There was silence as they seemed to stare into space, amazed, before they all got happy, silly smiles. A wonderful euphoric feeling washed over them, making them feel dizzy and lightheaded. Shin's mind opened and he saw and felt what Seiji and Ryou were doing.

"They're kissing!" Xiu giggled like a schoolgirl until he collapse onto Shin's lap in full-fledged laughs.

"Who?" Wufei asked curiously and Shin was reminded that three of the people in the room had no idea what was going on. Well, probably best to keep it that way.

"Oh, no one." Shin covered his mouth to hide his laughs.

The Date Dojo-

Noin and Zechs both seat at her computer going over the evidence he'd found at the captured rebel base. "So close." Noin said viciously. "I'm so close to finding that ass hole." It was well into the night - passed midnight - and Noin showed no signs of slowing down in her search. She'd visited grandfather Date earlier that night and had seen Seiji there with some boy, and that made it seem even more important that she find whoever hurt him.

"Such language, Noin." Zechs commented, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He'd taken his helmet off a long while ago to be more comfortable. Noin's home was one of the few places he felt comfortable with out the helmet.

"Don't you think I deserve to swear a bit now and then? Especially when Seiji is involved."

"Oh, yes. This is definitely a swearing situation. I'm just not used to it, you're usually so lady-like."

Before Noin could answer, they were both distracted by an unknown voice in the other room. "Are you sure it's okay for me to be here."

Noin and Zechs both looked up sharply to listen.

"My sister wants me to make friends, so she will be pleased that you are here."

Noin's eyes almost fell out of her head when she heard the complete sentence from her normally silent brother. "Was that Seiji?" She asked Zechs, astonished. "My Seiji, actually talking to a person?"

They ran into the family room to find Seiji, standing only with the help of a dark haired stranger, looking terribly pale. The stranger gave them a charming smile. "Sorry about intruding like this, but Seiji needed some help to get home."

Noin came further into the room. "Help? What do you mean?" It was then that she saw the blood stains on Seiji's trousers and shirt. "Oh, my God!" She was quickly at his side and ripped his shirt open. "You've been shot! What happened?"

Seiji didn't answer and Noin honestly wanted to hit him for a minute. "You have to tell me what's going on if I'm going to help you! I can't do anything if you don't tell me who did this and why"  
"If it helps, he told me a friend did this to him." The stranger said awkwardly. "Some brown haired guy attacked him in an alley."

Noin looked up at him sharply. He was a young man, only about Seiji's age, maybe fifteen, and wearing a kimono that looked as if it had seen far better days. His hair was long and shaggy and his skin was very dark, like he was used to living outside. Now, Noin was only concerned that this stranger had some of the answers she was looking for. "What do you mean, a friend did this to him?"

"Date Noin Lucrecia," Seiji interrupted sharply to give formal introductions. "This is my...friend, Sanada Ryou. I met him at school and he came with me to the hospital to find a hurt friend. I saw grandfather Date, there." He gave her a bleak look and Noin remember how she'd seen him earlier that evening, rushing from the room to fall into some dark haired guy's arms.

Oh, yeah.

"Look, Sei-chan. I meant to tell you, I really did. But, well, it was hard to explain everything and you were such a mess when you first got here, I wasn't sure how you'd take the news." She looked at him guiltily. "I hope you weren't too upset."

"I'll live." Even as he said this, Seiji's eyes rolled slightly and he swayed.

Ryou knelt with him lowering Seiji to the floor. Ryou refusing to let go of Seiji, and to support him, Ryou had to hold Seiji against his chest.

It was Zechs who took command at that point and reached out to examine Seiji's wounds, but Ryou pushed him away roughly. "Don't touch him! Seiji doesn't like people touching him!" Ryou snarled and bared his teeth menacingly.

Noin raised an eyebrow, but spoke in Zechs' defense. "He's trained in field surgery and Seiji has to have those wounds looked at. He could die of blood loss. It's either Zechs or the hospital to see a real doctor." Ryou looked down at Seiji, who nodded vaguely and appeared to get worse by the minute. Ryou looked up. "Well, all right, but only because you trust him and Seiji trusts you." Then he looked at Zechs. "Anything funny, though, and I'll bite your head off. Literally." Zechs, obviously taking the boy seriously, nodded before looking at the wounds with a professional air. Noin, however, thought it odd that this boy should be so protective of Seiji, especially if they'd only known each other such a short time.

"He's still got two bullets in him. I'll have to take them out." Zechs said. "I have some medical bags in the trunk of my car, will you get them, Noin?"

It was only about a half an hour later when Zechs had both bullets out of Seiji and had put in a few stitches. As Zechs finished the last of Seiji's bandages on his shoulder, Noin persisted in her questioning. "Now, tell me who did this." If the person was still in the city, she had a very good chance of catching them.

"No." Seiji said, slowly standing with Ryou's help. "The person who did this was my friend. I will not have you or him endangered for this. I will deal with it myself."

Noin thought of saying something, but knew how useless it would be. Finally, she shook her head. "You are as stubborn as mother was, Seiji. Never willing to let anyone help you. Well, have it your own way for now." With that, she leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "Go to bed, Seiji. It's late and you need to rest with your wounds."

"I want Ryou to stay." Seiji said, startling both Ryou and Noin. "It's dark out and he doesn't have a family to stay with."

"What are you talking about," Ryou asked with a laugh. "I do have a family! I have...er...uh..." Ryou's laugh faded and his face twisted into an expression of confusion. "I'm sure I..."

Seiji put an arm around Ryou's shoulders. "My room is that way. Help me?"

"What?" The question woke Ryou out of his thoughts. "Oh, sure." Ryou did as he was asked, but Seiji sent a look over his shoulder at Noin that clearly said he would speak with her later.

When they'd gone, Zechs looked at Noin. "Is it just me or has Seiji's whole personality changed since I last saw him? He's really warmed up to Ryou."

"He's starting to heal, I think." Noin said, almost smiling. "At least he has a friend, now"

"More than a friend, if you ask me." Zechs mumbled.

"What"

"Well, how many young men invite a friend to sleep over practically the first night they meet? And, Ryou was very sensitive about me touching Seiji."

"Good point. Now," Noin turned serious. "I want to take a trip to the hospital and see if I can find out who Seiji was visiting. Maybe it could lead me to whoever shot him."

"What? Now?"

She frowned. "Is that a problem?"

"Noin, it's past midnight. I really think we should both get some sleep. Seiji is fine now, but you should probably stay with him in case he needs to go to the hospital tonight. I know he doesn't like doctors, but he might not have a choice. I managed to stopped the bleeding, but you should wake him ever few hours to make sure he doesn't slip into a coma or anything." Zechs reached for the helmet he'd earlier set on Noin's desk and put it on. "I'll see you in the morning, Treize has some meeting he wants us all to attend."

Noin, feeling slightly naughty, asked, "And do you have a special meeting for tonight? A private meeting, maybe?"

Zechs blushed, deep red under his mask that went all the way down his neck. "Not that he's told me." The answer was more than a little disappointed.

Noin groaned, irritated. "Come on! I'm telling you, this whole subtle seduction routine will go nowhere with Treize. He's too good at it and he's going to torture you with it for as long as he can hold out. I say you forget seduction. Just go to his mansion tonight, sneak into his bedroom and ravish him before he knows what hit him."

This, unfortunately, made Zechs blush even more. "I can't!"

"Sure you can. It'll be fun and he'll enjoy it more than you will. Someone finally getting the better of him is just what that stuck-up prig needs." She shook a finger at Zechs. "And make sure you're seme (dominant) tonight. That bastard is in control too much for his own good."

"Noin!" Zechs exclaimed, scandalized. "I thought you were his friend!"

"What? Of course I'm his friend. Treize is one of my best and oldest friends, but you know I'm right. If you want him, just go get him. Honestly, you make this much more difficult than it needs to be."

Zechs fled. Very often, Noin got like that. She wanted only the best for Zechs and she knew that Treize would be good for Zechs and vice versa. If only they would stop playing games and get the relationship moving.

She considered going out to the hospital despite what Zechs had said, but suddenly her eyes felt very heavy. She'd been awake for more than nineteen hours without rest and she did have to get up fairly early in the morning. Well, might as well take Zechs' advice.

Noin stumbled to her bedroom, but was awake enough to hear the mumbled voices from her brother's room. 'How sweet,' she thought, with a soft smile. 'I do hope this Ryo is worthy of Seiji. Well, he seemed to be a nice young man.' She was considerate enough not to mess around in Seiji's business, though she didn't mind fooling with Zechs' relationship.

Ryou-

Seiji's room was spartan, with only one family photo for decoration. The photo showed a smiling Seiji, only about five or six years old, standing next to a younger Noin with long hair and three adults. He had just one bed and a chest of drawers, on which was an old wooden flute, to hold his clothes. Other than that, the room was pretty much empty.

Ryou helped Seiji to lay down and then sat on the bed next to his friend. "Seiji, why did you say I have no family? I thought I had a family, but when I tried to remember them, I just can't." This had been worrying Ryou since Seiji had mentioned it in the other room, but before, he hadn't even given it a thought. "I'm sure I haven't been living alone all this time, but I can't remember where I grew up or who I lived with after my grandmother died."

Seiji looked up at Ryo in the half darkness and for the first time, didn't mind the dark. Not when he had Ryou to keep him company. "When we touched that first day in school, I could see your memories. I saw five brothers and a little sister. I saw you living in a fantasy world, also, so I'm not sure if it was real or just something your mind was making up. Tonight, when we touched, I could feel nothing of your family. It was as if something had erased a large part of your mind. You know how to read, don't you?"

"Yes, sure. It took forever to learn, but I finally managed it."

"Who taught you?"

Ryou opened his mouth and then stopped. "I don't remember."

"Did you go to school?"

"Not before I met you. I...I think someone taught me." Ryou was starting to fidget with his hands in his lap, he didn't feel sad at having no family and he thought that he should. Granma died a long time ago, that he remembered so clearly. But, there must have been someone else, right? He couldn't have just spent all those years alone with Byakuen.

"What about Duo?" Seiji asked, putting a hand on Ryou's leg to get his attention.

"Who?"

Seiji frowned this time. "Maxwell Duo. He's one of your brothers, I remember that from our first touch and he was in our class in school. Do you remember Duo?"

Ryou thought then shook his head. "No. What does he look like?"

"Very distinctive. He's an American with a very long brown braid and you're the same age. He's also, from what I remember, a little hyperactive."

Ryou let his face sink into his hands. "I don't have the faintest idea what you're talking about!" He nearly wailed. "I want to remember, but there's just that big blank spot."

Seiji unexpectedly put his hand on Ryou's shoulder and pulled him down onto the bed, gently. "Don't worry too hard about it. I would know if you had amnesia, I think, so it's probably not that. Perhaps there's a psychological reason and you just don't want to remember."

"Huh?" Ryou let himself be pulled down and he rolled so he and Seiji were facing each other.  
"It is possible. If something traumatic had happened, you may not want to remember. I felt a lot of love when I saw your family the other day. It would be a shame to lose that. If nothing else, we'll probably see Duo in school on Monday and maybe he'll have some answers."

"Um, Seiji?"

"Yes?" Seiji's eye was closed now, the blood loss must have tired him out so much.

"You're bed is kind of small for the two of us, isn't it?"

Seiji opened his eye. "I am far too polite to let a guest sleep on the floor. If you're uncomfortable, I'll take the floor, myself."

Ryou quickly shook his head. "No! You're hurt, you can't sleep on the floor." How could Seiji even think that Ryou would make him do such a thing?

Seiji replied, "Then relax and go to sleep."

They stared at each other for a moment. And then a little longer. And a longer, still. Ryou started blushing when he realized he really wanted to find out what Seiji's hair felt like. Was it as hard and metallic as it looked, or was it soft? Did he dare to touch it?

On the edge of his mind, Ryou felt the other's amusement at him, the others who'd been joined to him through Seiji and now never completely left his mind. They weren't ridiculing him, exactly, but it was still an odd feeling to know that there were other people who knew what he was thinking, including Seiji. Boy, he'd better learn to control what he was thinking or Seiji would hate him!

"You can touch it, if you want." Seiji offered.

Ryou just stared. He didn't know Seiji could read him that well. "I...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to"

"I don't mind."

Ryou licked his lips nervously at the invitation. Somehow, it made him feel slightly sinful to touch the beautiful hair. As if he had no right to defile Seiji in that manner, even if it was just a tiny, innocent touch.

Oh, Seiji had hair of silk! It was softer than anything he'd ever felt before and Ryou couldn't stop himself from burying his fingers in the thick mop of hair. It was a totally sensual feeling, having tiny strands of golden hairs slide under his fingernails and Ryou ended up putting both hands in Seiji's hair, reveling in the sensation.

Seiji lay there passively, just watching Ryou, and didn't move or make any sound at all. Ryou let his hand slip down the back of Seiji's neck, letting it rest there for a moment before going down further down onto Seiji's back. Still, Seiji didn't move, not showing whether he liked it or not.

"Seiji?" Ryou said, starting to get nervous. "Do you want me to do this?" Seiji had such an effective wall built around his mind that it was almost impossible to tell what Seiji was feeling. Ryou didn't want to do this if Seiji didn't want it, though.

Seiji seemed to consider. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out, like he didn't know what he wanted to say.

_Please,_ Ryou thought, _Please don't hate me. I'll stop if you want, but don't hate me for touching you._

Finally, Seiji lifted his hand and touched the back of Ryou's head. He pulled Ryou closer until their foreheads were touching and Seiji opened his mind. It was just a tiny crack and he only opened it enough to let Ryou see him.

Love.

Beauty.

Warmth.

Fear.

These and more was everything that Seiji saw when he looked at Ryou. He liked the warm touch of Ryou's fingers and the wild beauty that danced in Ryou's eyes. Seiji's heart thundered when he saw Ryou and he felt so incredibly unworthy of Ryou's innocence and kind spirit. No, he certainly didn't hate Ryou, but he was afraid. Afraid that Ryou would turn away from him if he ever saw Seiji's ruined face. Afraid of being abandoned and alone, again. Seiji had only ever been close to one other person like this, Heero. It was Heero who had turned against him to serve doctor J and perhaps Ryou, too, would turn against Seiji. Seiji didn't want to hurt like that again.

Ryou leaned closer and started to move his hands down Seiji's back again. He would prove that he'd never betray Seiji!

"Stop."

Ryou frowned, but took his hands off Seiji. "What's wrong?"

"The others will feel it and I don't want to share you. Not yet." Seiji reminded Ryou, touched Ryou's temple. "If we try we can feel what they're feeling, so they can feel you, also. They are all trying to figure out who you are."

"What about you? You said they could feel me, but why not you? If we could feel Shin get shot, why couldn't we feel you? I only knew because the attack happened right under the window of my apartment." Now that Ryou thought about it, he couldn't see or feel Seiji unless Seiji wanted him to. That first time had been the only time, and even after Ryou practically carried Seiji home Ryou couldn't get through Seiji's wall.

"I seem to be able to block my mind better than you or the others and I pick up thoughts easier. Until we can all block our minds from each other, I think it would be best if we didn't do anything to embarrass each other."

It was true - Ryou could feel the three others on the edge of his mind. Ryou leaned over so they're faces were only inches apart. "I can wait, but not forever." Whatever made Seiji happy.

Seiji raised his head and kissed Ryou. That much he could share with the others in their minds. The physical touch made them both more vulnerable, and Seiji couldn't block himself from Ryou at that moment. The intimate touch opened their minds like a floodgate and, again, Ryo saw a part of Seiji's life.

What Ryou saw-

Seiji crept into the nearly empty cafeteria and his eyes lit up when he spotted Heero. Heero was still small, though he was now twelve. He'd barely changed in the few years they'd been parted so Seiji recognized him at once.

Today, Heero was alone, without guards, in the cafeteria, a sign of how much they must trust him not to run away or cause trouble. Dressed in plain black, Heero as calmly eating the tasteless "healthy" gruel that they were usually given.

"Heero!" Seiji whispered fiercely. He ran to the table where Heero was sitting and slid into a seat opposite of his friend. "I managed to sneak out, Heero. I'm going to runaway. Come with me"  
Heero didn't looked up from his soupy meal. "Go back to your room, Seiji."

"What?"

"You can't escape. Go back to your room before I alert doctor J."

Seiji stumbled to his feet, not believing what he was hearing. "But, Heero, if we do it together, we can get out of here. That's what we've always wanted."

Slowly, Heero's eyes traveled up to meet Seiji's. "Go back."

"You wouldn't betray me, Heero." But Seiji didn't sound so confident.

Heero raised a hand to the communicator pinned to his chest. It was a direct link to Dr. J and could summons him instantly.

Seiji ran.

Perversely, he did as Heero had told him. He ran straight back to his room, his prison before anyone had noticed he was missing and fell on the bed. Heero had sided with doctor J, the enemy. Seiji's world fell apart when he realized he had no more friends. Heero was gone, just another tool for doctor J. Well, fine. It didn't matter. Seiji would bide his time and escape on his own. He didn't need Heero.

Really, he didn't. So why was he crying?

End of Flashback-

Seiji felt the kiss end and he was still crying. Ryou kissed the tears away with little, light touches of his lips and trying to share him most comforting memories. A spot of laughter, time running through the trees of a mountain, and watching an old woman bake bread. Then it was over and Seiji was left looking at Ryou.

Ryou rested his head on Seiji's shoulder. "I won't do that anymore if you don't want me to."

"I don't mind."

"But you're crying." Ryou protested. "I don't want to make you cry."

"I wouldn't have told anyone if you hadn't found out like that. Noin doesn't know what it was like when I was away from her, and I don't want her to know. It would only upset her. But, I'm glad someone knows."

"That boy, Heero, he was the one who attacked you in the alley, wasn't he?"

Seiji silently nodded.

"Do you really think he hates you?"

"No. Heero doesn't hate anyone. This is just his job." Seiji sighed. "That's what Heero and I were programmed to do, to kill. I really didn't think he'd have given in so completely to doctor J, though." Seiji closed his eye. "I guess I didn't know him as well as I thought I did."

The next morning-

Noin-

Noin woke early, as was her habit, and stretched without opening her eyes. She definitely shouldn't have stayed up so late last night! With a yawn, Noin rolled over, determined to get another five minutes of sleep. She rolled into something large and furry and Noin frowned. That wasn't right. There shouldn't be anything in her bed like that.

Slowly, she opened her eyes, prepared for almost anything, except what she saw.

Noin screamed.

Only seconds later, Ryou and Seiji ran into the room, both only partly dressed, with Ryou wearing a pair of Seiji's jeans, to find out what was going on.

Ryou smiled. "Byakuen! I was wondering where you'd gone." Ryou jumped over Noin and landed on her bed next to the large white tiger to hug him.

Noin stared in disbelief. "No offense, kid, but what's your tiger doing in my bed?" She picked herself up with a little help from Seiji who was just as puzzled.

Ryou nuzzled Byakuen. "He was just looking for a warm place to sleep. You shouldn't scream, though." He gave her a reproving look. "You'll scare him."

"I'll scare him?" Noin repeated sarcastically. Oh, it was going to be a long day.

Duo-

"Do you plan on paying for those, kid?" The sour looking shopkeeper asked Duo.

"Well, sure I was." Duo lied happily. Duo started to pat himself all over. "Money, money, oh, dear. I seem to have left it all my money at the house. Wait while I go get it, won't you?" Duo took off running as fast as he could with his hand full of fruit.

"You brat!" The shopkeeper screamed. "Little thief!"

Duo ran for a while, laughing all the way, before dodging into an alley and running to hide behind a dumpster. That had been wonderful! Duo actually had to hold a hand over his mouth so the irate shopkeeper wouldn't hear him when he ran by. "Well, I may be a little rusty, but I've still got it!" Sliding down to sit on the ground, Duo put a hand down and was more than a little surprised when it came down on a foot. Duo froze and slid his eyes down to find who he was sharing the alley with.

It was him! Duo's mouth fell open when he saw the sharp face and dark brown hair. Duo remembered the guy from his dreams and had to smile. Abandoned in this world, that now seemed so alien, Duo couldn't believe his luck in finding this guy. Now what to do with the sleeping guy?

"Hey, conscience," Duo called out to that little voice that was supposed to tell you when you were about to do a bad thing. "Where are you?" Sister Helen had told him all about that conscience thing when he was very little.

"Right here, cutie." Duo looked up over his left shoulder. There was a little man with bat wings hovering there, looking at him. The little man had a pleasant smile and innocent demeanor.

"You're my conscience?" Duo asked the little man, er, demon, er, thing.

The little man laughed. "Conscience? Naw, I killed him a day or so ago. I hope you don't mind."

Duo shrugged. "Not really. So, who are you?"

"I'm your evil side."

Duo frowned at the rather cute little man. "You don't look very evil."

"Give me a break. So maybe I'm your slightly naughty side. Look what I've got to work with!" The man gestured to Duo. "Now, what's your problem."

Duo motioned down to the unconscious boy. "What do I do with this guy?"

The man examined the boy. He thought carefully before smiling back at Duo. "Strip him naked and paint him blue."

Duo smiled. "I like it."

"Wait," The little man warned. "Better take that gun away from him first." He pointed to the gun clutched in the boy's hand. "Those things are dangerous, you know."

"Good idea. Here, you hold it. Say, where am I going to find blue paint this time of night?"

Heero-

Heero woke up and instantly knew something was wrong. As he normally did, he analyzed the situation before he opened his eyes. He was laying on hard cement and it was cold, probably night. There was also something coating his body and it wasn't clothes. A soft giggle.

Heero opened his eyes reluctantly and the first thing he saw was a boy with a long braid over one shoulder which he was twisting with both hands almost nervously. The boy bit his bottom lip to stifle another giggle.

Heero finally looked down at himself. He was striped. Heero blinked to clear his vision and confirm that what he saw was reality and not just a dream. Nope, it was real. Someone, Heero's mind of course chose the braided boy as the most likely suspect, had painted him in blue stripes.

"I didn't have enough paint to do you completely blue, so I settled for stripes." The boy finally spoke. "Do you like it?"

"Where are my clothes?"

The boy's grin grew. "Oh, I burned them up." He pointed to a small fire he'd apparently built. "It was very cold out here."

"So you left me naked in the cold?"

"Yes." He twisted his braid again. "Do you like the paint job?"

Heero considered the question very seriously and stood up to examine his body. Well, although he didn't especially like being painted in general, the work was, in fact, very good. Nice even lines and no mess to speak of. It was a pleasant shade of blue, too.

"Yes." Heero answered honestly. "You did a very good job."

The braided boy practically glowed with the compliment. "Thanks."

"I need my clothes and my gun, now." Heero's mind returned to the business at hand. "Well, sorry about the clothes, but you can have the gun back, he said you might get upset when you woke up so I took it away from you." The boy pulled the gun out of his colorful robes and tossed it easily back to Heero.

"He?" Heero asked, wondering if there was someone else around here he should worry about.  
The boy pointed over his left shoulder. "Him."

Heero looked and couldn't see anyone. He gave the boy a puzzled look.

The boy looked over his shoulder and then back at Heero. "Sorry, he says only I can see him. He's my evil side and he thought you'd look nice in blue." The boy said this all with a cheery smile on his face as if it was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Are you insane?" Heero asked curiously. He'd never met anyone who was insane before so this would be an interesting experience. Perhaps this boy was related to that little girl, Kay. She had seemed to be slightly mad, also.

The boy thought for a minute. "Ummm, I don't think so. My brothers used to tell me that I was nuts, so maybe I am and just never knew it."

The boy's smile started to fade as he mentioned his brothers and Heero vaguely wondered what was wrong. He liked it when this boy smiled and when he didn't the boy didn't seem nearly so intriguing.  
"When did you meet your friend? The one who told you to paint me blue."

"Um, it was just today, but he said he killed my conscience a few days ago, just about the time I got kicked out of home." His face fell even more at that, and then he forced a smile. "I'm Duo Maxwell. Who are you."

"Heero." Heero was surprised that he'd given so much away to a stranger. He wasn't supposed to tell anyone his name. If he developed his sickness after being kicked out of his home, it was most likely that he'd suffered mental trauma and was now suffering from delusions. Heero also wondered what he should do about clothes. This boy in front of him looked about his size. It would be better than walking around undressed, as that would cause far too much commotion. Hmmm, Duo looked about his size. Duo gripped his gun tightly, ready for action if Duo should decide to fight.

Touma-

Touma carried in the mail, sorting it as he walked up the driveway. Rashid, Rashid, Quatre, Rashid, Quatre, Quatre, Touma, Rashid, Rashid...Wait a minute! Touma went back until he found the one addressed to him. No one ever wrote ho him, but here it was.

Hashiba Touma from...

Touma's eyes popped open when he saw who the letter was from and he instantly dropped the rest of the mail to tear into the letter. This was the one he'd been waiting for weeks now. He nervously and quickly read the short note that was inside the letter.

"YES!" Touma screamed happily, jumping into the air before running into the house as fast as he could. Touma didn't get very far before he ran into Quatre. "Hey, Kitty, you won't believe it!"

Quatre smiled at Touma's unusually happy mood. "What's gotten into you"

Touma shoved the letter at Quatre. "Read it!"

**Dear Mr. Hashiba Touma,**

**I am pleased to inform you that on your entrance exams, you have scored the highest records marks of any applicant. Although at your age, 15, you are to young to be hired by the Alliance, I would be honored to interview you for a future job working as a technician in our Mobile Suit design labs. With the intelligence you have shown along with diligence in your studies, I believe you would be remarkable addition to our group. Please expect a representative for an interview at your home on December 21 at 5:00 P.M. **

**Sincerely,  
Captain Jaing, Alliance recruiting**

Quatre-

Quatre stared at the letter, dumbfounded. Slowly, Quatre looked up at Touma who was still hopping excitedly up and down. "You...you want to work for the Alliance?" This just couldn't be happening.

Touma smiled proudly. "I studied for months to get into the exam, it's only supposed to be for college students, but they said they couldn't refuse me because my grades were just so damned good. Just think, Kitty, this could mean a whole new life for me! I might someday make the biggest, most powerful Mobile Suit ever created."

That was half of what Quatre was afraid of. If Touma really joined forces with the Alliance, it would be a very, very bad thing. Touma had a tendency to just do the assignment and not question what the purpose or morality. The Alliance would make great use of Touma's intelligence, making them far stronger than they were, even now. But, more importantly, what would happen to Touma? Touma was, Quatre knew, not the most stable of people. Because of his past, Touma tended to withdraw from people and throw himself into the challenge of any kind of work. That meant that the Alliance would have a genius working for him that didn't want to stop working.

Quatre, himself, had plans for the Alliance. He was one chosen to become Gundam pilots to destroy the power forces of Earth and make life safer for the colonies. That meant he'd be working against Touma and, even if Touma didn't know it, Touma would be creating weapons to kill Quatre.  
"You should refuse." Quatre said quietly, knowing that it would hurt Touma. Quatre folded the letter and handed it back to Touma.

Touma stared at Quatre, confused, and his happiness drained away. "What? Why?"

"I just don't think you should be so eager to work for the Alliance." Quatre said. "They've done things that are...questionable."

Touma started to get angry, snatching his letter back from Quatre and clutching it tightly. "I don't believe this! For the first time in my life, I have the chance to make something of myself and you don't want me to take it. I have a real chance to do something, to change the world and you don't want me to even try."

"No, that's not it."

"Do you want me to be dependent on you and Rashid for the rest of my life, Kitty? To always be the poor, pitiful Touma, the one you rescued and took in?" His voice was becoming bitter as he got angrier and angrier. He knew it wasn't true, but couldn't seem to stop himself from talking. "I'm not going to do it! I want to be someone! I want to..."

"Touma!" Touma and Quatre both turned to find Rashid standing in the doorway. Touma, sure that Rashid would be happy for him, quickly went to his foster father and showed him the letter. Instead of what he'd expected, though, Rashid looked even more disapproving that Quatre, but remained silent.

"Come on, sir." Touma was half begging. "I...I worked hard for this. I studied for months just to get a chance at the exam. I wanted to make you proud."

Rashid shook his head. "I'm sorry, Touma. I don't approve of the Alliance and I don't want you working for them."

Touma shook for a moment and then exploded. "I'll take the job! I won't pass up this chance just 'cause you don't want me to do it!" Touma ran outside and took off into the woods before Rashid or Quatre could even say a word.

For a moment, neither Quatre nor Rashid said anything. Finally, Quatre made his way to the telephone and dialed quickly. "Hello. I'd like to have a word with Mr. Treize Kushranada. Tell him...tell him Quatre would like a word in private."

Touma-

Touma scowled up at Orion, the hunter, holding his bow; cocked and ready for...for whatever he was waiting for. It was Orion who'd brought the Orb and the link to the others to Touma. Orion who' d set him on this path that he didn't know the destination.

"What am I going to do?" Touma asked himself out loud. He'd worked so hard for the chance to make everyone proud of him, not just pity him. So long and hard and now the very people he wanted to make proud were set against his plans! "They could show just a little support." Touma grumbled and settled himself onto the edge of the cliff. This was his favorite spot, buried deep within the forest that surrounded Quatre's mansion; the cliff loomed high over a river and was he best spot for miles to watch the stars.

A feeling invaded Touma's thoughts, a warm touch, uncertain of it's welcome, but concerned. This was the one Touma hadn't met, yet. The one that was with Seiji. While he was familiar and comfortable with the mind-touches from Xiu and, to an extent, the distant Seiji, this other was a bit of a mystery. Even Shin, whom Touma didn't much like, felt right and comfortable when he was in Touma's mind.

Still new at this whole thing, Touma tried to stretch his mind and reach out to the other one and found it remarkable easy, almost natural. "I'm okay, don't worry about me." Touma said out loud, though he was almost positive the other would only feel emotions, as he did, and not actual words or thoughts. Touma relaxed as much as he could, thinking about the stars and not the letter or his family.

The other, now appeased that Touma was all right and didn't need help, slid back into sleep, not yet ready for the day. Seiji's mind opened to him, coming out from behind the shield, and touched Touma, reassuringly. He wasn't so easily fooled as the other was into thinking everything was alright. Seiji knew something was wrong, didn't ask questions, but simply sent comfort. Touma was grateful for that more than anything.

Xiu, so far away, Touma knew Xiu was now traveling in the stars up above to the colony where Wufei's clan lived, felt as if he were right next to Touma. Xiu, also, was upset about something, but it wasn't something dreadful, just a worry. Still, he rubbed Touma's mind in a friendly, familiar fashion. Like two cats rubbing against each other, their minds touched and Touma, once again, was jealous of Shin.

Touma knew that Xiu was in love with Shin the moment he'd seen the two together and it hurt, badly. Xiu was everything Touma had ever wanted. Strong, honest, happy, and wonderfully innocent. Then Shin comes along.

"Hello. Are you all right?"

Speak of the devil.

Shin sat down gracefully next to Touma, drawing his legs up to his chest and looking, not at Touma or the stars, but down at the raging river below. Touma had hated Shin, at first, offering his home to Shin only for Xiu's sake. Shin was handsome, smart, graceful, kind, and sweet. It was no wonder that Xiu had fallen so hard for him. It just didn't seem fair that Shin had come out of nowhere and taken Xiu away like that!

It was worse that everyone knew exactly what he felt!

But, Shin was so wonderfully kind and sweet-natured, it was nearly impossible to hate him. Over just the past few days, Shin had worn down Touma from hating him to just disliking him.  
"I have an interview for a future job as a technician in the Alliance tomorrow." Touma told him.  
Shin smiled happily. "That's wonderful!" But when Touma didn't stop frowning at the sky, Shin looked up from the river. "Isn't it?"

"Sure, it's great, but Kitty and Rashid are set against me on it and I don't know why."

Shin inched closer to Touma, warring between the fact that Touma didn't like to be touched and his own need to comfort and help. Shin settled for just sitting as close as possible without actually touching. "I think you should go for it." Shin advised quietly.

"Really?" Touma looked up suspiciously, even though he knew that Shin wasn't lying, the link was good for that sort of thing.

Shin nodded, focusing his eyes on the river below, again. "Sure. I can feel how much you want it and, although I think Quatre and Rashid must have good reasons, perhaps they don't understand how much you want to do this. Or, you could tell them that if they'll give you a good reason, you'll think about not taking the job."

Touma stood abruptly and started pacing along the cliff. "I just don't know what's going on! Kitty and I have had all the same training our whole lives, Rashid and Abdul have taught us to be warriors, and I thought I knew everything about them. Now they're holding something back! It seems so stupid, too. It's just a job, after all. There's no reason to keep information away from me."

"All you can do is ask them."

Wufei-

Wufei was currently in the bathroom of the shuttle that was taking him and the Fan family to L5. Wufei carefully set the ornamental hat on his head and pulled on the ceremonial robes. They would arrive on A0206 very shortly, the colony where Wufei had been born and raised. It would be so good to see Meiran again. To hold her tiny hand.

"Hey, Wuffers, you done yet?" Xiu shouted through the door of the shuttle's bathroom.

"Nearly." Wufei replied, refusing to be baited by the nickname, he was in far too good of a mood.

Xiu came in, closing the door behind him, and admired Wufei's outfit. "Wow! You look great!" He went behind Wufei and started to straighten his cousin's robes, smoothing out the back. "Mama's jumping at the chance to meet Meiran, you know. I hope she doesn't mind bear hugs, you know how mama is." Xiu started to rub his forehead.

"I think Meiran will survive it." In the mirror, Wufei noticed something sparkling around Xiu's neck and he tapped the mirror where he saw the small orange glass ball. "What's that?"

Xiu fingered the small ball that was hanging on a silver chain, but didn't quite answer. "I'm not really sure." Xiu grimaced and squinted his eyes for a minute. "I found it the other day in the alley"

"Trowa said that Shin found a small glass ball when he went into the sea that day." Wufei slowly turned around and looked Xiu right in the eyes. "Does it have anything to do with that?"

"Well...Um...it sort of does."

"Sort of?" Xiu never lied, he was far too honest, but it was rare for Xiu to not answer directly.

"Come on, tell me what's going on?"

"I just found it in the alley a couple of days ago. Not that important, is it? I just thought it was pretty."

"Pretty?" Xiu was normally far too 'manly' to use words like pretty. He considered them sissy words, odd as that may sound.

"Yeah," Xiu became suddenly defensive. "Pretty."

"Okay, whatever you say." Wufei decided to let the subject drop, but he wasn't about to let the mystery go quite as easily. Xiu was involved in something Wufei really didn't understand and that was not to be allowed. Not with his cousin. "Is something the matter?" He finally asked, watching Xiu massage his forehead again.

"Touma's upset, but I don't know what about." Xiu answered. "I'm trying to calm him down, but he's really worked up."

"That 'link' thing again, huh?"

"Yeah, this is really weird. I know he's upset and that everyone else knows, too. I don't know enough to be worried though. For all I know, he's just having a nightmare. Shin's going to check on him."

"Should I wear my glasses or not?" Wufei asked, picking up his reading glasses from the bathroom counter, more to change the subject rather than out of vanity. He didn't like this talk of telepathic links and other mystic nonsense he didn't understand. Wufei was all for religion and faith in the unbelievable, but it was different when it came to his own family. Xiu shouldn't have been thrown into something like this. It was better to take the subject to safer grounds.

"I'd wear them if I were you. They make you look really smart."

Well, that was decided. Wufei looked at himself in the mirror and he was ready for the biggest day of his life. Marriage. Responsibility. Children. Forever and forever and forever... Wufei suddenly felt queasy. "I'm going to throw up."

Xiu panicked. "What? You can't. We'll be there in twenty minutes! You don't want Meiran to see you toss your cookies, do you?"

The thought of Meiran only make the situation worse and sent Wufei's head spinning. "Oh, no." He mumbled. But Xiu was right; he really didn't want to humiliation of having Meiran see him throwing up. Wufei put a hand to his mouth.

"No! No! No!" Xiu waved his arms frantically. "You're in your fancy clothes. Hold it in, man! Hold it in!"

"I can't." Wufei sunk to his knees, desperately searching for the toilet. He'd decided that this was the perfect time to change his religion and, if he could only find her, he'd start worshipping her almighty holiness, the porcelain goddess.

Finally, finding it, Wufei grabbed the sides of the toilet and happened to look up to see the photo of Meiran he'd taped up on the mirror. Oh, she was so beautiful, with her sweet smile. Her eyes were so bright. _Oh, my stomach._

Wufei heaved violently, emptying his stomach into his new goddess, and he dimly heard Shu scream, "Mama!" The bathroom door opened and slammed shut.

For a moment, Wufei was alone in the bathroom, smelling his own vomit and feeling like an idiot. "Please, let me die." He mumbled.

Strong arms wrapped around him and a hand started to rub his back. Wufei hadn't had someone hold him like this since his mother had died. "Poor baby." Auntie Fan was holding him and whispering comfortingly in his ear. "Everything will be alright. You just relax, sweetie."

Wufei's eyes were watering from the horrid smell and he let himself be drawn back into her vast bosom. He closed his eyes and begged. "Please, just kill me now."

Auntie Fan laughed. "I don't think that would be a good idea, sweetie. Meiran would be awfully upset to find herself a widow before she was bride, don't you think?" Her large hands smoothed back his hair.

Unfortunately, the thought of his future wife didn't help Wufei's stomach. He groaned miserable, but managed not to throw up again.

"I've never seen such a fast case of wedding day jitters." Auntie commented, sounding mildly amused.

"Jitters? This can't just be jitters. I'm dying."

She smiled kindly down at him. "Trust me, sweetie. This is just jitters and you'll be fine in just a minute. Take a few deep breaths."

Continued...


	13. Dancing

Chapter 13: Dancing

Youja Kai-

Naaza stood in his room utterly confused.

On his easel, in a corner of his chambers, was a painting Naaza had never seen before. It was only half finished and was undeniably done in his style, but Naaza just could not remember painting it.

Painting had been his greatest passion for many years and he was, even he admitted, quite good. He had learned to paint after he'd come to live in the Youja Kai when boredom had nearly driven him mad. It was the boredom that had driven Sh'ten to write, Anubis to run, and Rajura to sew. After all, everything was provided for them. They had unlimited food, clothing, and a magnificent home. They didn't need to do anything and after a while the luxury could turn into a hell. They'd all come from lives where they were expected to earn a living whether it was hunting for food or risking one's life in battle for one's lord, they were used to being busy.

Over the many years of his life in the Youja Kai, Naaza had lined the walls of their palace home with paintings of his family, flowers, his beloved snakes, the Ningen Sekai moon, and abstract images done in rainbow colors. Anything that sprang to mind, he would commit to canvas.  
But, the painting he'd discovered in his chambers was just...odd. Naaza scratched his head and tried to remember painting it. It was a large painting, a family portrait of sorts, with his three brothers standing side-by-side (himself included in the painting) and the two guardian tigers, Byakuen and Kokuen-Oh, on each end, like majestic bookends.

It was the three unfamiliar figures in the center of the painting that was the mystery. They were posed in front of the Ma-Sho, two teenage boys standing with a small girl sitting on the floor between the two boys. The first boy, standing in front of Rajura, had a wide, bright smile and a long braid hanging over his shoulder. The girl - she could only have been about nine or so - had immensely long black hair and helding a fine china doll on her lap while she smiled sweetly. The second boy was about the same size as the braided boy, but with shorter, black hair and a darker complexion. "Now what's this all about?" Naaza muttered. "I'm sure I would have remembered doing this one." Naaza scratched his head and frowned at the painting. He didn't remember the children and, since the painting hadn't been finished, it must be recent.

**_Trouble?_**

Naaza looked down at the snake that had woken up on his bed and had spoken to him. "I'm not sure. Do you remember me doing this one?" He gestured to the painting.

The snake regarded the mystery painting lazily. **_It is fresh smelling._** She commented. **_Before the hatchlings were sent away._**

That got Naaza's attention. "What hatchlings?"

**_Young ones in painting._** The snake seemed to be irritated that she had to tell Naaza such a thing and she crawled off his bed. **_You go get your young. Not good, young being alone._** With that last piece of advice, the little snake slithered out a crack in the wall, going to wherever she was when she wasn't with Naaza.

He didn't both to try and stop her as snakes weren't well known for talking. Naaza knew that she would tell him more if it suited her and not before. Naaza glared at the painting. His paints were still cluttering the table next to his easel, with the brushes still in the paint, so he must have been working on it recently.

Finally, Naaza gave up his puzzling and left his room in search of Sh'ten. Surely, Sh'ten would know what was going on. It wouldn't be hard to find him even if they hadn't had the mental link. When Sh'ten wasn't in his room, he could normally be found in the library.

Sh'ten-

Sh'ten had gone to the library, his personal domain in the great empire of the Youja-Kai. Everything else, he shared with his brothers, but the library was his alone. Looking for the notes he was using for his book he was writing about his long life, Sh'ten came across a box marked **SCHOOLWORK**. Sh'ten pursed his lips and picked up the box. He didn't remember that one and it was fairly heavy.

What he found inside, however, was even more puzzling. Hundreds of papers that appeared to be of someone practicing writing and mathematics and several longer papers, writing assignments that told about animals or history. Just like school reports. They were obviously done by two different people, one handwriting was messy and barely legible while the other was neat and practiced. Through this pile, Sh'ten searched for names that would identify who these belonged to.  
He only found one clue, a paper that had written, in small neat handwriting at the top of the page:

**PUNISHMENT - DUO.  
I WILL NOT THROW FIRECRACKERS INTO THE SNAKE PIT.  
I WILL NOT THROW FIRECRACKERS INTO THE SNAKE PIT.  
I WILL NOT THROW FIRECRACKERS INTO THE SNAKE PIT.**

Almost a hundred lines were written like that and Sh'ten knew he should speak to Naaza. If his snake pit had been disturbed, Naaza surely would have told them about it. Hell, he would have been screaming bloody murder for weeks if one of his babies had been hurt in the least little way. So…why didn't Sh'ten remember anything about it and who would have been insane enough to tempt Naaza's wrath?

In the end, Sh'ten put the box back where he'd found it and sat at his desk drumming his fingers on the top. While he was doing that, a small, pink envelope caught his attention, just poking out from under a book on his desk. Sh'ten pulled it out and found his own name written across the front in the same hand neat writing as one of the papers he'd found in the box. He pulled out a card, made of folded paper and opened it. Inside was a chalk picture of roses and:

**HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, MAMA SH'TEN!  
LOVE DUO, RYOU, AND KAY.**

Sh'ten almost dropped the card, he was so shocked. "Mama?" He said out loud. "Me?" He certainly didn't recognize the names. Why in the world would anyone give him a mother's day card?

Rajura-

Rajura sat in the armory with a scythe in his lap. He had seen the scythe when he was making his inspection of the armory and the sight of it was enough to make him forget about the inspection. It wasn't just a single scythe that worried Rajura so much, but a good many weapons that weren't supposed to be in the armory. He ought to know, the armory was his responsibility and he knew every weapon.

There was a tiny scythe that seemed to be built for a child. On the wall with the tiny scythe, was six more, each one growing in size until it reached adult size. On another wall were twin katanas, hanging in a similar fashion to the scythes. Each pair gradually getting bigger until an adult could wield them.

There was nothing unusual in the scythes, themselves, or the katanas. They were not magical in anyway, but they were out of place. The weapons were not supposed to be there. What caught his attention, however, was that on the wooden handle of the scythe he was holding were the engraved initials: D.M. Who was D.M.?

Anubisu-

He'd been looking for the tigers all day and finally found Kokuen-Oh sunning himself on a rock just outside the palace. "There you are." Anubisu said. "I've been looking for you everywhere! Where's Byakuen?"

The black tiger, normally not so friendly, was even more unpleasant than usual. He slowly turned his head to glare at Anubisu, his dark eyes cold as ice. **_I don't know._** Was the bitter reply.

"What do you mean?" Anubisu knew that the twin tigers were always together. They rarely - if ever - left each other's sides. Anubisu walked toward Kokuen-Oh, but stopped when the tiger suddenly growled and bared his teeth. Kokuen-Oh raised himself up onto his feet and refused to let Anubisu get any closer. "What's gotten into you?"

**_No closer, betrayer._**

Anubisu blinked. Perhaps Kokuen-Oh was sick. Again, Anubisu tried to get closer, but Kokuen-Oh wasn't fooling around and swiped at Anubisu, his claws fully extended to their nearly inch long length. **_Stay away!_** The tiger screamed furiously. **_Byakuen has gone to the other world. I want to go to him. I must find my cub._**

"What cub?" Anubisu was, by now, thoroughly confused. Since when did Kokuen-Oh have a cub?

Kokuen-Oh cried out at the moon, a long, mournful sound. **_Byakuen made his own way, but when I tried the power was gone. Let me go to them._**

"Master Arago has ordered that there is to be no more travel between worlds, to conserve power before the war begins. Byakuen must have gotten through before Master Arago shut out that power to us. I didn't even know you two could open gateways."

Kokuen-Oh didn't say anything to that, but snarled. **_Betrayer. You sent the cubs to other world, away from us. Betrayer!_** With that, Kokuen-Oh bounded away into the long grass plains and vanished from sight.

Several hours later-

They were in the wilderness, with an excuse to Emperor Arago that they needed to work off some energy by hunting. It was a usual excuse they used when they wanted quality time together, away from the clanging foot soldiers and the cold stone walls of the palace. It also wouldn't be questioned. After riding for hours on the demon horses, the Ma-Sho found themselves in a secluded clearing.

The four men sat in the grass by the side of a familiar river and relaxed into the comfort of each other's arms under shade the pale purple blossoms of the tree. It was a tree very much like a cherry tree, with it's beautiful pink blossoms, but not exactly. This tree was a thing of pure imagination that Rajura had dreamed up and then created. The blossoms smelled vaguely like lilac for some reason that Rajura wouldn't tell anyone. He just liked it.

How could such a place of beauty exist in a world of evil? Simple. It didn't. This was one of Rajura's greatest masterpieces. Rajura fancied himself an artist with his illusions and had come to this place one day to work. For three days, he'd worked to make the most beautiful, restful places he could imagine and the result was this oasis of peace. No foot soldiers or weapons, no Arago or spirits or even yoroi were seen in Rajura's creation. Only the Ma-Sho themselves were allowed in this place. He was, to put it plainly, terribly proud of his greatest creation ever.  
Rajura's Garden of Dreams.

Naaza lay on his back with his head propped up in Sh'ten's lap and he stared up at the light filtering through the tree's flower blossoms, lavender in the moonlight. Sh'ten ran his long, graceful fingers through Naaza's green hair, in a lazy fashion. Rajura and Anubisu leaned against each other, close enough that their temples were touching Rajura had his arm draped over Anubisu's shoulder while his other hand played with Sh'ten's long red hair. It was an intimate moment, one that none of them wanted to break with talking. From where he leaned against a tree, Sh'ten looked down at his lover, pleased that his exotic looking Naaza looked so at peace. Naaza was often plagued by inner torments, mostly concerning his slow transformation into a serpent.

Still, they had to discuss the strange things they'd been finding and why the animals had been acting so oddly. Hiding in Rajura's garden and being utterly silent was the safest way to go about it. If Arago happened to spy on them the only thing he would see would be exactly what was going on, them all sitting, and laying, together under a tree. He wouldn't know what was going on in their minds. He couldn't hear their mind-speak.

The demon lord Arago was all-powerful in the Youja Kai, even if he wasn't overly bright. However, the mind speaking was one thing they'd discovered that he had no control over and, more importantly, had no knowledge of. This was a secret that only the four of them shared.

THERE'S SOMETHING VERY ODD GOING ON AROUND HERE. BYAKUEN IS MISSING AND KOKUEN-OH WON'T TELL ME WHERE HE IS. KOKUEN-OH WAS VERY AGGRESSIVE TODAY.Anubisu turned to Rajura to nuzzled his beloved's neck. It always pleased him to have the feeling of his Jura's soft hair on his face and to kiss the delicate, pale skin.

Anubisu didn't bother to shield his mind and shared what he was feeling with the men he considered his brothers. Sh'ten had always been susceptible to the emotions of others and was obviously aroused by how Anubisu was feeling. He reached down, running his hand down Naaza's chest and into the folds of his kimono.

Naaza closed his eyes and smiled at the touch. NICE.

Like Anubisu, neither Sh'ten nor Naaza bothered to hide themselves. It was too good of a feeling to keep to oneself.

Sh'ten agreed, even as he lowered his head to kiss Naaza's cheek. YES. I HAVE FOUND SOME INTERESTING PAPERS IN THE LIBRARY. Sh'ten finished the kiss with a long, wet lick.  
One by one, they went around, opening their minds, and shared what they'd discovered that day, while they touched and caressed each other. IT MUST HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE PUNISHMENT WE WERE GIVEN SEVERAL DAYS AGO. ARAGO WOULDN'T EVEN TELL US WHY WE'D BEEN PUNISHED. HE MUST HAVE TAKEN OUR MEMORIES. Naaza said. BUT I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT. WHO WERE THE CHILDREN AND WHY WERE THEY HERE?

DOES IT MATTER? Rajura asked, his eyes closed as Anubisu lowered him into the tall grass, pulling at the cord that held his kimono together. WE KNOW THEY WERE HERE. WE KNOW THAT THEY LOVED US. WE KNOW WE LOVED THEM ENOUGH TO EDUCATE THEM AND INCLUDE THEM IN FAMILY PAINTINGS. WE MUST FIND THEM. A pause. THAT FEELS VERY, VERY GOOD, 'NUBIE. Even in their minds, Rajura sighed and moaned when Anubisu started to bite his neck.

WE HAVE TO FIND THE CHILDREN. Sh'ten agreed, letting Naaza slip hands under his kimono. THEY MUST HAVE BEEN TAKEN AWAY BY ARAGO, FOR SOME REASON.  
WHERE DO WE LOOK FOR THEM? Rajura asked. THEY COULD BE ANYWHERE IN THIS WORLD OR THE OTHER.

Anubis smirked as he straddled Rajura's hips, biting his love's ear hard enough to draw a tiny bit of blood, which he eagerly licked up. WE JUST HAVE TO FIND BYAKUEN. He was very pleased to finally be the one to take command. I CAN'T SENSE HIM IN THIS WORLD SO HE MUST BE IN THE NINGEN SEKAI. KOKUEN-OH SAID BYAKUEN WENT AFTER ONE OF THE CHILDREN, SO THEY'LL PROBABLY BE TOGETHER.

WON'T WE BE PUNISHED IF WE FIND THEM? Naaza asked, looking up from Sh'ten's now bare legs. THE CHILDREN MIGHT BE IN DANGER, TOO. EMPEROR ARAGO MUST HAVE BEEN VERY ANGRY WITH US FOR SOME REASON.WE CAN'T LEAVE THEM IN THE NINGEN SEKAI. Rajura told him. THEY BELONG WITH US. ARAGO WON'T LET THEM RETURN IF HE SENT THEM AWAY! WHAT IF HE KILLS THEM THIS TIME?

Rajura's eye narrowed. HE WON'T HURT THEM. WE'LL DECIDE WHAT TO DO LATER. RIGHT NOW, I WANT TO KNOW WHO THEY ARE AND WHAT'S GOING ON. I WONDER IF THEY REMEMBER US OR IF ARAGO TOOK THEIR MEMORIES, TOO.

There were a few moments of quiet as the men concentrated on what they were doing, lost in the pleasant sensation of touch and the smell of each other. It was intoxication, as they began to move closer together, forgetting partners and just enjoying each other.

I SUPPPOSE WE SHOULD GO AFTER THEM. Sh'ten said, his face flushed.

SOON. THEY'LL BE ALL RIGHT FOR A LITTLE WHILE MORE. Anubisu grumbled. He was firmly attached to Naaza's chest at this point and really didn't look as if he wanted to leave.

Ningen Sekai-  
Heero-

"Give me your clothes." Heero aimed the gun at Duo. The braided boy lost his smile slightly, but didn't move so Heero repeated the demand.

"You want my clothes?" Duo asked slowly.

Heero didn't bother to answer, just pulled back on the trigger of the gun menacingly.

The braided boy smiled widely, a seeming permanent state for him. "Yay! I found my koibito!" With that Duo leapt at Heero and wrapped his arms around him.

Heero almost dropped the gun, he was so startled, and could only stand there, shocked as Duo rubbed his cheek against Heero's. "Get off." Heero said in a dangerously quiet voice.

"Don't be so shy. Why else would you want me to strip for you? Frankly, I'd rather go somewhere more private, but whatever floats your boat, baby." He gave Heero a suggestive wink and kissed him softly on the cheek.

Heero dropped the gun and started struggling to get this strange boy off him, pulling and pushing, but found his strength just wasn't up to the task. "Off! Off! Off!" He really, really didn't like being touched.

The Duo dropped to the ground and, with a lightening fast move swiped up the fallen gun. He kept grinning maniacally while he turned the gun on Heero. Heero's face froze. He'd have to kill the boy at this rate. If Duo actually tried to stop Heero, Heero would have no choice.

"Now," Duo said, ominously, his eyes narrowing to reveal darkness Heero hadn't seen before. "I have to tell you, I haven't used anything like this before, so I'm not sure how good my aim is. From this distance, though, I really don't think I'll miss." He cocked his head to the side, like a bird.

Heero said nothing, waiting for a chance to get the gun away from Duo. He hardly seemed like the same boy Heero had seen and been entranced by at the school just a day or so ago. That boy had looked so carefree, without the madness lurking in his eyes.

"Fine then, keep quiet. I want to take you somewhere." Duo motioned for Heero to turn around and at this range, Heero knew he didn't stand a chance against the gun. Duo was more dangerous than he looked, clearly crazy. "Go on. It's just up the fire escape, all you have to do is climb."

Heero did as he was instructed, climbing up the fire escape that was practically next to him in the alley. The other climbed behind him, with one hand, no less, until they reached the third floor.

"Right there." Heero was told. "The window is open, just go in."

The apartment Heero climbed into was empty, completely empty, not a bit of clothes or furniture. Not even any light bulbs in the over head lights. The room was cold and lifeless as if no one had ever set foot in it. "This is home." The boy announced. "I just need some information from you."

While his captor was speaking, Heero was thinking. The name, Duo, rang a bell in Heero's mind, though he tried not to let it show. Duo? Wasn't that what Kay had called one of her brothers? It was hardly a common name, after all.

"What is the Alliance?"

The question took Heero off guard. He had thought that Duo was sent by the Alliance to stop him, but if Duo didn't even know who they were...where did that leave him? Who'd sent him?

Duo waved the gun impatiently. "Come on, come on. I don't have forever! I have vengeance to wreak and nuns and children to avenge. Time is running out, I have to know who the enemy is so I can kill them."

"Why do you want to kill the Alliance if you don't know who they are?"

"They killed friends of mine, so I'll go kill them." Duo replied as if he were talking to a rather stupid three-year-old. "It's very simple when you think about it."

Heero tried not to sound alarmed, but asked, "Was it Kay that they hurt?" He had to know if it was the sweet little girl who'd been killed. If so, he might just join forces with Duo.

Duo's eyes opened wide at the question and, if anything, it was like a fog in his eyes was lifting. He suddenly looked just a little saner. "How do you know Kay?" His voice was softer, far more serious than before but his grip on the gun didn't loosen.

"Was Kay killed?"

"No."

_So I was right._ Heero thought. Kay did say that one of her brothers had a very long braid.  
"I met her the other day, looking for her two brothers, Duo and Ryou. Are you her brother?"

"Yes."

"She was picked up by another brother. Anubisu."

Duo started to shake, but quickly took control of himself. "Yes. Anubisu is one of our older brothers. He's good about keeping track of her. They were all over-protective of Kay and us." Duo fell silent but only for a moment. "You'd think they'd have let me explain before kicking me out, wouldn't you?" Duo said bitterly and he started to pace the room, almost forgetting that he'd been talking to Heero. "But no, I wake up with Ryou burning the room down around us and a demon mask staring at me, next thing I know I'm here. Then there's Sister Helen, dying, and all the little kids all around her. There was blood…everywhere…blood. I can't get back home by myself, I need my oniisan's to help me, but... I just can't believe they just left me here! Rajura and Naaza especially hate Ningen Sekai! I don't even know what I did wrong, and..." Duo's voice broke off and Heero had a pretty good idea of what brought on Duo's madness.

Half of the story sounded like reality, while the other half was obviously fantasy. It was probably that Duo's brother, Ryou, had set a fire in their home and had been locked up for pyromaniac tendencies. Duo must have gone searching for his brother and come upon the nuns and dead children and the sight snapped his mind. Well, Heero would just have to find Duo's family or...Heero stopped that thought right where it was.

He didn't have to do anything for Duo! He was only on Earth for Seiji. First Kay and now Duo, where was this weird kindness coming from? It wasn't like him at all. Still, Duo did seem upset at revealing this.

Duo lowered the gun slightly. "There's a bathroom in there." Duo pointed to a closed door. "I've never used it, but the water should be working. Go wash up if you want to and I'll get you some clothes." He'd seemed to put the thought of his family abandoning him firmly behind him, covering up with the cheerful mask again.

Heero backed up, keeping his eyes on Duo while he went to the bathroom and closed the door between them, thankful that there was a lock on the inside of the door. Duo was dangerous, half-mad, but still dangerous. He had shown four faces in the past fifteen point six minutes. Happy madman, a very quick jump to being an experienced soldier, then sliding easily into tortured victim. Now he was acting very hospitable and Heero couldn't help but wonder how many faces Duo hid under the cheery smile.

There was an unlocked window in the bathroom, and Heero knew he was small enough to slip out easily. Heero allowed himself a little smirk. This was working out nicely. Now, if he just had some clothes.

He was finished scrubbing himself clean of the blue paint when there was a knock at the door. "I've got clothes for you!" Duo called.

Heero contemplated just escaping out the window as he was, but it would be easier if he had the clothes and his gun. Heero opened the door and let Duo in, still holding the gun and without any clothes in his hands. Heero raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"Don't you want some clothes?" Duo asked, slyly.

Heero cautiously nodded, knowing Duo was up to something.

Duo stepped into the small bathroom and closed the door behind him. Slowly, Duo started to untie the straps that held his kimono together. Heero narrowed his eyes at Duo. This was some kind of trick, he just knew it! With a flourish, Duo let the black kimono fall to the floor, leaving him in absolutely nothing. "Don't you want it?" Duo asked playfully.

"Are you trying to seduce me?" Heero asked. No one had ever tried, so this was a first for him. Either that or Duo was just very, very strange.

Duo rolled his eyes. "You finally get it! Yes, I am trying to seduce you." He raked his eyes up and down Heero. "I've been seeing you in my dreams, you know. Exactly you. The hair, the face, the attitude, even the clothes and the gun are exactly what I've been seeing in my dreams. It must be fate. I'm so happy to have finally found you."

Heero, unnerved by Duo's words, slowly stooped to pick up the fallen kimono and tied it loosely around him. "The gun."

At that, Duo shook his head. "I don't think so, pal. This is the only way I get to have you tell me about the Alliance and how you know my sister. It stays with me."

Oh, well. Heero quickly kicked Duo in the stomach and, when Duo doubled over with a grunt, Heero threw himself out the still closed window. He fell three stories to the ground level, but with no serious injuries and he took off running. The gun wasn't all that important, he could kill hundreds of ways without it, it was just easier to have the thing. Heero didn't get far before he heard a chirpy voice call from behind him,

"Wait for me, Koibito! I wanna come, too!" Heero risked a glance over his shoulder to see Duo running after him, still completely naked, right down the sidewalk. Heero grimaced and tried to run faster.

Hours later-

Heero finally collapsed, exhausted. He sat on his knees, panting for breath, until the other boy, still bare-assed naked and still holding Heero's gun, skidded to a stop bedside him. Heero glared at Duo, the maniac he'd had the misfortune to run into. Duo's eyes still sparkled and he was still smiling, even though he, too, was panting. Heero had liked Duo's look in the schoolyard, but couldn't understand why Duo wouldn't leave him alone now?

For hours they'd run a mad chase around the city as Heero tried to lose so he could get on with his mission to find Seiji. Duo proved to be most persistent, refusing to give up. Heero couldn't kill Seiji with Duo watching because then he'd have to kill Duo, too. Frankly, he really didn't want to kill either of them, but orders were orders. The fact that Duo seemed to revel in making a scene of himself, giving three old ladies fainting spells when they caught a glimpse of his bare self, didn't help keep them inconspicuous.

While Heero glared, Duo asked, "Is this part of the game over yet?" Duo let Heero's gun dangle between his knees as he squatted beside Heero, a little to close for comfort. In fact, as he watched the gun, Heero felt himself become increasingly warm and the warmth was creeping up his neck into his cheeks.

"Are you blushing?" Duo leaned forward, nearly touching noses with Heero.

Heero continued glaring, but now he sat down on his backside, moving him further away from Duo to a more comfortable distance, and crossed his arms over his chest. He absolutely wouldn't give in! Heero turned away from Duo, stubbornly. Maybe if he ignored Duo, he'd just go away.  
Duo leaned over and put his chin on Heero's shoulder with a charming smile but Heero jerked away violently. "Don't touch me." He said, narrowing his eyes.

Duo harrumphed and looked insulted. "I don't bite. Well, not unless you want me to."

"I don't like being touched."

They sat together, catching their breaths and Duo, as usual, felt the need to talk about something. "So who are you here to kill?"

"My partner."

"Boy, he must have really ticked you off." Duo commented, but Heero didn't reply. Duo tried several more times to get the conversation started, but Heero steadfastly ignored him. Finally, Duo settled back into an uncomfortable silence, except for the cars honking and the occasional sounds of pigeons.

"He was going to get caught." Heero said, in his soft, clear voice, his back still turned to Duo.

Duo came to attention, focusing on Heero's unexpected voice. "Who?"

"My partner. He wanted to run away, but he was going to get caught." Heero thought back to that day in the cafeteria when Seiji had run up to him, so happy that he'd been able to get free of his guards for just a moment.

Flashback-

"I'm going to run away, Heero. Come with me!" Seiji wasn't smiling, he never smiled, but there was hope in his voice.

Heero loved looking at Seiji, he always had. Seiji was the most beautiful person Heero had ever seen, despite the scarred half of his face. Heero lift another spoonful of food to his mouth. Seiji doesn't know that the guards had been doubled because of Alliance spies. He didn't know that the surveillance cameras were heat and motion sensitive. They would set off an alarm if he even tries to go out of the restricted areas.

"Go back." Heero told him softly. The badge doctor J had given Heero to contact him with was pinned to his chest, but Heero didn't know if it works the other way. He didn't know if doctor J could hear what he was saying to Seiji.

Seiji looked at Heero, stunned and...oh, it hurts to see him like that! Seiji lookd as if he would cry. "What? If we go together, we can escape, Heero. It's what we've always wanted."

"Go back to your room, Seiji." Heero repeated with a hand on the communication badge. "I will send for doctor J if you don't go." Heero didn't know if he could do it, if he could actually send Seiji to his doom. If doctor J found out what Seiji was planning, it would probably mean death. Heero had hoped Seiji was sensible enough to go back and wait for a better time to run. 'Please,' Heero thought, 'please go back.' Heero couldn't even tell Seiji why he was saying such things. If anyone was listening, it would surely be trouble for them both.

Heero missed Seiji so much. He wanted to be with Seiji every day that they'd been separated, but now that Heero could see him it hurt. He knew Seiji would think Heero hate him. Heero want to tell Seiji everything, but...doctor J wouldn't approve. There would be punishment and, despite everything, Heero knew he was a coward.

He was afraid that doctor J would let the guards touch him again and, because of his fear, he'd hurt Seiji, the one person he'd never wanted to hurt. _I...I just don't want to be touched again._

Seiji stumbled away, almost tripping over a chair and he looked so betrayed. Heero wanted to shout that he didn't mean it. Yell that he'd run anywhere with Seiji, but that Seiji just had to wait for the right time.

Heero did nothing and sat there just watching Seiji. Seiji who'd fought for Heero and taken care of him so many times. Heero watched Seiji's face showing the betrayal and anger. He realized that his hand was still hovering over the communication badge, threatening Seiji's life.

Seiji ran and Heero slowly lowered his hand to his lap. It was the right thing to do. Heero had done the right thing. Seiji would be safe so long as he went straight back to his room and didn't get caught.

_Then why do I feel sick? My stomach hurts. Just wait,_ Heero thought. _I'll come for you at the first chance I get. I'll rescue you and take you away._ It was then that Heero made up his mind to get a message to Seiji as soon as possible. _I'll tell him to wait and I'll help him, just not right now. Not today._

"Very good, Heero."

Heero turned to see doctor J walk through one of the other doors of the cafeteria, opposite from where Seiji had come in and left. The old man was smiling, a bizarre parody of a real smile, as he walked slowly toward Heero. The clicking of his staff froze Heero's gut. It always brought back memories of Seiji's punishment.

"I am pleased that you know where your loyalties lay, Heero. I was going to kill Seiji when I saw him in here, but I wanted to know whom you would side with, with your ex-partner, or with me. I am glad to see you made the right choice." From out of his lab coat doctor J pulled out a small, but effective looking gun. "If you had made the wrong choice, you would both be dead now."

Heero was more thankful that he'd known what he'd had to do. Going against doctor J meant death for Seiji and Heero.

Doctor J continued, "From now on, extra guards will be placed on Hiro's room, to prevent this happening, again. You don't have to worry about ever seeing him again. If he does manage to escape, he will be shot on site."

_No!_ Heero wanted to scream and rip out doctor J's throat. "Yes, sir." Heero said obediently and hated himself.

End Flashback-

Duo was still watching Heero, but Heero didn't really care. _I will NOT cry!_ He'd lost Seiji because he was a coward and he had been ordered to kill him or bring him back. Heero couldn't go against orders. He just couldn't. _But...I don't want to hurt Seiji. I've all ready shot him twice. He might be dead already._ If Seiji hadn't hated Heero before, he surely did now. No chance had ever come to help Seiji, or even contact him, before he managed his own escape and left. Seiji's fault for leaving or Heero's fault for not listening to him - Heero didn't care. He still felt abandoned.

Duo moved closer to Heero again, but didn't touch him that time. His tone was soft and sincere. "You want to talk about it?"

"No." Heero didn't want to get close to anyone again. It just wasn't worth it.

Shin-

Touma needed all the help he could get, that much was obvious. Shin had watched all morning as Touma fussed about the house, dressed in his best clothes and then went to raid Quatre's closet for a better tie and shiny, black leather shoes. Touma looked at himself in the mirror before grumbling and running off to change his clothes. He repeated the whole process five times until he was finally satisfied with a dark blue suit, but then started to talk to himself in the mirror, working out what he'd say to Trieze when the man arrived. Shin shook his head at Touma's nerves and went to the kitchen to get out of the way.

The previous night, Touma had tried his best to talk to Quatre and Rashid. Try to convince them that he could handle the whole situation and that they shouldn't judge him before they'd even met Mr. Kushranada. Rashid had crossed his arms stubbornly. "Not in my house!" He declared. "I will not have anyone from the Alliance in my house!"

"But why not?" Touma had never known Rashid to act like this, so unreasonable.

"We have to tell him." Quatre said quietly from where he stood next to Rashid. "If he understands, maybe he'll reconsider."

"Tell me what?" Touma demanded.

Quatre opened his mouth, but Rashid silenced him with sharp hand movement. "No! I don't want him involved. It's bad enough to have you endanger, master Quatre." He looked at Touma. "Please, you've trusted us all this time, just this one last time. Don't get involved with the Alliance, Touma. They are not good people."

"And what, exactly, have they done?" Touma asked. "You've told me all about how evil the Alliance is, that's what Quatre and I are being trained for, but what exactly have they done? All these years of training and you've never told us..." Touma's voice faded when he saw a guilty look on Quatre's face. "You know, Kitty?" He asked in disbelief before turning on Rashid. "You told Kitty what's going on, but you didn't trust me enough to tell me."

Rashid shook his head. "It's not that, Touma. You are like a son to me, you know that."

"Then tell me. Why are we fighting? What, exactly, has the Alliance done?"

"Well," Quatre said, awkwardly. "We strongly suspected that..."

"You suspect?" Touma rolled his eyes sarcastically. "You hate them just because you suspect something? Jeeze, for all you know, there might be nothing wrong with them, right?" He looked up at Rashid. "Have I wasted my life training because you don't trust them?" Quatre shook his head. "It's not like that, Touma. I have inside information that says..."

Again, Touma interrupted him. "Inside information? From where? How do you know they can be trusted?"

"I believe them, Touma. I can't tell you who they are, though. I can't even tell you what the information was. It's dangerous. The people I'm working for are just as dangerous as the people I'm fighting against."

Touma's eyes narrowed. "What are you both involved in?"

Quatre and Rashid both remained silent.

This was the last straw and Touma turned on his heel, marching upstairs to his room.

"Touma, wait!" Quatre called.

"No. I don't think I want to talk to you right now, Kitty. You're keeping secrets." He stopped and looked at his adoptive family. "I don't know why, but I'm really not happy with it." He continued up, Shin, who'd witnessed it all from the background, followed.

They went up to Touma's room and Shin knew, without being told, to lock the door behind him. He could feel such fury from Touma and not just about the job anymore. Quatre was hiding something. He didn't trust Touma enough to tell all his secrets and that infuriated Touma.

Without a word, Touma sat at the computer at his desk and started typing.

"What are you going to do?" Shin asked quietly.

"I'm going to try to find out what all the fuss about the Alliance is about." Touma replied, not looking up from the screen. He zipped though so many windows on the screen that Shin was getting dizzy just watching. Sometimes the screen would go completely black and Touma would type in gibberish, taking him to another screen. "Rashid raised me with the idea that I would be a soldier. I'm cool with that. He never said it in so many words, but I am trained to fight. Why against the Alliance, I have no idea. I'm going to find out."

Finally, the screen went completely yellow, except for big black letters. ACCESS CODE REQUIRED.

Touma sat back thinking. He tried everything he could think of Quatre using from Quatre, Winner, Rababer, Rashid, Touma, and Abdul. He went through lists of names of friends at school and even hobbies that Quatre had. Nothing worked. Then he tried Alliance, Romafeller, OZ, Trieze, War, enemy, and teacup. Why teacup? Why not, he was running out of ideas, after all.

It was almost three hours later, well into night, when Shin was falling asleep, trying to be patient for Touma, who was still clicking away at the computer. "Touma, just go to bed. You're not going to crack that code tonight."

"I can crack any code." Touma replied with a yawn. Then he shook himself. "But I think I'll settle for just sending Kitty and Rashid on a wild goose chase for now"

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, while I was messing around in here, I noticed that they always seem to go away when Kitty gets an email from someone called: DRH. All I have to do, I think, is send a similar message. The last one said : Check in. All going according to plan. DRH. Shin watched as Touma easily typed in exactly the same message into the email. "But won't they know that it's coming from your computer?"

"Not if I do this right. It'll look like whoever this guy is, is sending it."

Shin shook his head. "Are you sure you really want to do this? I mean, isn't it kind of...dishonest?"

"It's extremely dishonest." Touma answered easily. "But, they're being dishonest with me, too, so I don't mind lying to them." He clicked the send button. "With any luck, tomorrow, they'll be gone when Mr. Kushranada gets here."

Shin's eyes went wide. "Trieze Kushranada? The guy that's always on the news? The same guy who runs the Alliance?" He was more than awed. "You must have made quite the impression if he's coming here himself."

Touma gave him a smug grin. "You're telling me."

Now, on the morning of the auspicious visit, Shin was in Quatre's kitchen and wondering what Touma was getting himself into when he heard a noise in the driveway. Must be Trieze. Touma's ruse had worked and the house was mainly deserted after he'd given all of the staff the day off when Quatre and Rashid had left earlier.

The guy Shin thought must be Trieze, as fitting for the commander of the Alliance, arrived in a chauffeur driven Rolls Royce at exactly the time he said he'd be there. He was apparently a man who liked the finer things in life. Shin watched from the kitchen, over the sound of a boiling kettle on the stove, as Trieze got out and said something to the driver before walking up to the front door of Quatre's home.

"Well, he looks...rich." Shin said to himself. Trieze was dressed very formally, in some kind of uniform and with short, reddish hair and a sharp look to him. In his mind, Shin felt how panicked Touma was, still rushing around. "Maybe I should help him." The teakettle whistled.

Touma-

The doorbell rang, and Touma froze with terror. Mr. Kushranada!

Again, the doorbell rang and Touma remembered to breathe. This was his future. His whole future was riding on this meeting and whether or not Mr. Kushranada thought he was good enough for the Alliance.

Another ring and Shin shouted from the kitchen, "He's going to leave if you don't answer it."

Without further prompting, Touma ran for the door. He swung it open, surprising Mr. Kushranada. "Hello!" Touma burst out, trying to sound relaxed, but failing miserably.  
Mr. Kushranada, to his credit, didn't laugh at Touma, so well-dressed, and so obviously flustered.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Hashiba. I'm Trieze Kushranada, I believe you receive my letter and are expecting me."

"Yes, yes, of course! A great pleasure to meet you, sir, please come in!" Touma managed to stand back and let Trieze walk in.

Trieze looked around the impeccably clean living room, appraisingly. Trieze sat on the sofa and Touma nervous sat in the chair opposite of him. There was a tense moment of silence, but Trieze never stopped smiling. Touma suddenly looked at the empty coffee table and wondered what was wrong. Why wasn't Mr. Kushranada saying anything?

_OH GOD! THE TEA! I FORGOT TO MAKE TEA!_ Touma nearly had a heart attack and just wanted to cry. Trieze was going to think he had no manners at all! He'd never get the job. Kitty would think he was a failure and Rashid would think he'd failed as a father. Touma gave into the stress and fell to the floor on his knees, weeping, a lake of tears growing around his knees. Touma screamed at the top of his lungs to whatever god would listen to him, "Just kill me and get it over with! Why torture me? Do you enjoy making my life Hell?"

"Are you all right, young man?" Trieze was giving Touma a very odd look when Shin walked in, a silver tray set for tea and three china teacups.

"Hello, sorry the tea is late." Shin smiled sweetly at their guest before turning to Touma. "What are you doing on the floor, Touma?" He set the tray down and started to serve the tea.

Touma blinked, astonished and managed to pick himself up. _He saved me!_ Shin gave Trieze a cup of tea, also offering a plate of homemade cookies. _Maybe he's not such a prick after all.  
_Then Shin offered Touma a cup of tea and gave him a look that clearly said, _You owe me, boy. Big time._ Touma managed to be grateful, anyway. He'd worry about repaying Shin later.

Some time later-

Trieze shook Touma's hand. "I'm very pleased about his interview, Mr. Hashiba. You have managed to impress me with your intelligence and I think you'd be an excellent addition to my personal staff, instead of just a technician for the Alliance. I could use a scientific advisor to help me understand all the new technology that my scientists are working on. How would you like to work as my assistant, a good job in OZ?"

"Oh, yes, sir!" Touma was almost bowled over by the offer. Mr. Kushranada was not the sort of person who went around picking assistants out for no reason. OZ? Wow! OZ was the elite military of the entire Alliance army. If Trieze wanted Touma, then...oh, wow! "Your personal staff? I'd be honored."

"I would like to see how you interact with other members of my staff, though. OZ is holding a party shortly and I'd be honored if you attend, with a guest, of course."

Shin-

"Yes, sir." Touma eagerly agreed, still shaking Trieze's hand with a wide smile. Shin felt so pleased for Touma, pleased that things were working out nicely, even if they weren't exactly friends. Touma walked Trieze to the door, with a promise to be at the party. His smile lasted only until he came back to the couch and collapsed with a cry of anguish. "Please, kill me!" He screamed, again, with tears running down his face.

Shin, shocked at the change of mood said, "What's wrong? I thought it went wonderfully. You really impressed him." He'd stayed through the meeting, helping to keep the small talk moving, not a skill Touma was terribly good at, and trying to keep Touma relaxed enough to speak in front of Trieze. Personally, Shin wasn't terribly impressed with the man, but at least Trieze was polite.

Touma looked up only to glare at Shin. "Well, sure you did. You're not the one who has to go to that party, are you?" He'd obviously forgotten that Shin had saved his interview with tea and cookies and a few well-placed words.

Shin stood stiffly, picking up the tray of empty cups and cookie crumbs. "I'm only trying to help! You're the one who wants this job, not me!" He turned away, clearing the tea he'd worked so hard to set out just right. "You don't have to snap at me just because you can't dance."

"That's not the problem, you jerk!" Touma jumped up and started pacing the room. "I can dance just fine, but I don't have anyone to go to this party with and he said I was to bring a guest. If Kitty wasn't against this whole thing, then I'd go with him, but he doesn't even like the Alliance mentioned in the house, he'd never go to one of their parties. If he were here, I'd ask Xiu..." Touma trailed away from this thought with another glare at Shin. Xiu probably wouldn't go with him anyway, now that Shin was around.

Shin glared back, not afraid in the least. He knew what Touma was feeling as Touma was too distraught to try and block his feelings, but it wasn't Shin's fault that Xiu liked him! "Don't you have anyone else you could go with?"

Touma shook his head miserably. Xiu and Quatre were, pretty much, his only friends. He didn't like even being near other people, even Xiu's cousin, Wufei, let alone having to take a chance dancing with some stranger at this party. "What if someone asks me to dance? I won't be able to do it." If he had a 'date' then maybe no one would bother him.

Shin felt how afraid Touma was of being touched and having people close to him, besides Xiu. Shin fought with himself for a moment, part of him wanting to leave the rude, nasty Touma to suffer on his own, but his good nature won out.

Shin bowed his head and closed his eyes, knowing he'd regret doing this. "I'll go with you."

Touma blinked and looked at Shin, surprised. "You what?"

Shin scowled at Touma. "I said I'll go, if you want me to. If you'd rather go alone, then I'll stay here and play poker with Abdul."

Touma couldn't stop jumping up happily, thankful that he had someone to be with. "Great!" Touma wasn't afraid to be close to Shin for just one evening, because of the bond they shared. Touma would know instantly if Shin would 'do' anything to him, so he knew Shin could be trusted. "Now, I can just tell everyone that I'm with you, if some asks me to dance."

Shin frowned. "Won't they think that's a little odd? That you're on a date with a guy?"

"Maybe. Do I look like I care?" Touma smirked. "So long as I have an excuse not to touch anyone, I'll be fine." Shin could tell that Touma really meant it, he honestly didn't care what other people thought of him.

"But they might not hire you if they think you're gay."

This made Touma pause, but he waved off the objection. "I AM gay and that's not going to change. I'm certainly not going to hide myself my whole life, so they might as well find out now as later. Besides, they're hiring my brain, not my body." Touma gave Shin a look up and down. "Even if I have to dance, I can have you for a partner. Not that you'd be my first choice, of course, but beggars can't be choosers."

Shin's eye twitched at the insult. How dare he! "Maybe I'll change my mind and just let you go alone, if you really think I'm the bottom of the barrel." Shin suggested and was sadistically pleased with the flash of fear from Touma.

"You are a very nasty person, Shin."

"You're no angel, yourself, buddy."

The two glared at each other for a moment before Shin spoke again. "Anyway, you won't be able to dance with me, even if I wanted you to."

Now, Touma became alarmed. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know how to dance." Shin admitted with a slight blush. "I never had time to learn, what with the circus act and all. It always kept me pretty busy."

Touma brushed that aside. "I'll teach you. Kitty taught me a long time ago, and he tells me I'm pretty damned good, too." With that Touma ran to the stereo that sat in the corner of the living room and started to rifle through the collection of music.

Shin sat heavily on the sofa. _I must be insane._ He thought. _I just volunteered to spend a whole evening with a guy who practically hates me!_ Thinking back to Touma's earlier comments and how he'd been treated by Xiu's other best friend, I_ don't think I'm real fond of him, either._

"Ah, ha!" Touma triumphantly held up the disk he'd been looking for. "This is a great dancing song." Touma immediately set to work moving the coffee table out of the way, opening up the living room for a dance lesson.

After putting the CD in, Touma came to stand in front of Shin and held his arms out. "What?" Shin asked, suspiciously.

Touma rolled his eyes. "How am I supposed to teach you to dance if you don't stand up? Come on, you said you'd help me."

Shin sighed, but stood and let Touma take control. "Just put your hand on my shoulder." Touma said. Touma put his arms around Shin, one hand on Shin's waist and the other taking Shin's free hand. The music came on, a soft, almost mournful wailing sound.

Shin thought that the music was getting to him. It was really a very beautiful song, and it seemed to relax him, letting Touma guide him though the first awkward steps. Shin was very graceful in his acrobatics, but dancing seemed like a far different thing. He had to watch his feet and, Touma told him, watch his partner at the same time. He tripped several times, on his own feet and Touma's.

It was getting easier and Shin actually glad that Touma was so sure of what he was doing. That made things simpler so Shin didn't have to work so hard. All his had to do was trust Touma.

Touma was feeling pretty good about it, too, Shin realized. Touma wasn't even thinking about how revolting it was to touch someone and just relaxing into the moves, letting his mind wander into the music. Shin tightened his hand around Touma's, for some reason he didn't fully understand. Touma pulled him closer and Shin felt a pleasant wash of calm through the link he shared with Touma. Touma did feel very good against him.

Shin felt warm all over. Touma's hands felt like they're burning Shin, all of a sudden. The music still plays, but it was getting hard to hear it, Shin realized he could feel Touma's heart beating against his chest, thundering in his ears.

They had stopped dancing and just held each other. Touma no longer looked so threatening and angry with gentle eyes looking at Shin from only inches away. Without thinking about what he was doing, Shin raised his face to Touma. Touma leaned down, their lips meeting in a passionate kiss.

Shin, suddenly realized whom he was kissing. "Oh!" He jumped away from Touma. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean..." What was he was doing! And Xiu could probably feel it, too! His apology was cut off abruptly as Touma pounced him, dragging Shin to the floor while kissing his passionately. Shin gave in without much of a fight.

Trieze-

They were so cute together! It was sweet watching Shin come to Touma's rescue with the tea just went Touma looked like he was have a stroke. Trieze had actually felt rather bad for the boy when he collapsed in tears. Just looking over his exam results Trieze was sure the age given had been a mistake, until the boy had answered the door. Touma was a child, probably not even seventeen. He wasn't even old enough to drive yet!

But with that intelligence, Trieze really wanted Touma on his side when the war started and he wanted Touma's intelligence creating new weapons for him. When Touma had opened the door, Touma reminded Trieze of a child trying to play adult. Dressed in clothes that were far too formal for a job interview and all flustered, he was really very cute. He bit his bottom lip all through the interview and kept wringing his hands in a nervous gesture. It was hard not to laugh, but then Touma would astound Trieze, using his intelligence to impress Trieze without even realizing that he was doing it.

Trieze had already started down the long drive of Touma's home when he'd realized that he hadn't given Touma the invitation to the party that told the address and time so he turned the car around and headed back.

Trieze knocked a few times at the door, but no one answered. Well, the cars were both still in the driveway, so they must be there. Trieze opened the door, thinking that he would just leave the invitation on the hall desk, but as soon as he walked in, he heard strangely familiar sounds coming from Touma's living room. Trieze followed the noise, curiously only to find Touma and his friend, Shin, in one of the most frenzied kissing duels he'd ever seen, rolling around on the floor. Shin was attempting to take Touma's shirt off, pulling it down around Touma's waist.

Not really wanting to disturb them Trieze ended up leaving the invitation and walking out quietly as he could. Seeing those two make Trieze think of Zechs and all the interesting things Trieze could do to...er...with him. "Home." Trieze told the driver, then changed his mind. Trieze gave the driver a certain address. Zechs had said earlier that he was visiting at Noin's home, so that was where Trieze would go. It might be the perfect time to do a little flirting and get Zechs all hot and flustered. He was so damned cute when he blushed.

Trieze had heard rumors of Noin having found a long missing brother, too. Maybe he would get to meet Seiji.

Continued...


	14. Innocence Lost

Chapter 14: INNOCENCE LOST 

Wufei (Just after landing on A0206, two days before the attack by OZ)-

A knock at the bathroom door and Kwan's little voice shouted, "Mama? Is Wufei ready? Xiu says the people outside are getting impatient."

"Almost. Give me three minutes, Kwan." Auntie Fan straightened the new robes she'd gotten for Wufei and looked at him appraisingly. "Very nice." She approved, stepping back with her hands on her big hips. After Wufei's moment of jitters which had resulted in his vomiting, she'd sent Xiu out to hold Meiran and the others from the Long Clan at bay while Wufei got a hold of himself. It was shaming that he'd fallen apart so easily, and in front of Xiu, no less.

"Auntie?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"This might be a silly question, but why did you have a spare set of formal robes in your luggage?" Wufei thought it more than a little odd that she'd packed a second set that were exactly his size.

Auntie Fan laughed, a deep booming sound. "Your father had exactly the same problem when he married your mother. Your uncle, my husband, got incredibly sick, but that was at the altar, in front of everyone. I'm also told that your grandfather threw up before passing out just minutes before the wedding, luckily the ceremony hadn't started, yet, so no one saw him. I had an idea this might happen, so I planned ahead."

Wufei stared at her, horrified, as he realized the implications of what she was saying. "I'm from a line of weak men."

Auntie Fan slapped Wufei on the back of the head. "Don't be an idiot, boy." She scowled at him. "Weakness would be running away while your betrothed is waiting out there waiting for you. Get my point?"

Wufei did and took a deep breath. He would be strong and face Meiran, even though he probably still smelled rather badly. Wordlessly, Auntie Fan held out a small box of Tic Tacs and Wufei made a mental note to pick the nicest rose he could find for her in the gardens. They both turned and found Kwan peeking in through the door.

Wufei had to smile. He'd grown found of his younger cousins while he'd lived with them and Kwan, he'd found out, is a very clever, sweet girl. "What do you think?" Wufei held his arms out and modeled the robes for her, feeling rather silly. Well, no one was looking except Auntie Fan and she wouldn't tell anyone. It made Wufei happy to please Kwan and the other children. Strange, he'd never thought of himself as a children sort of person.

Kwan giggled and threw the door open so she could run in and hugged Wufei. "You're beautiful, Wufei!"

Wufei's eye twitched, but he managed to keep smiling and hugged her back. Beautiful?

Auntie Fan laughed. "He's not beautiful, darling. Wufei is handsome."

Kwan stubbornly shook her head. "Nope. He's very beautiful. Can we go see Meiran, now?" She grabbed Wufei hand and starts pulling him to the door of the shuttle. It was quite the scene when they did arrive. "Let me meet her!" Kwan begged when they were close enough to peek out the door without being seen. "I want to meet her."

"She's the one all in black." Wufei said. He ran his hands down the front of his robes again and stood up straight, trying to make himself taller. He really hated being short.

Outside, poor Xiu had his own problems with trying to keep all his brothers and sisters under control alone while keeping Meiran from hunting Wufei down at the same time. By the time Wufei emerged with auntie Fan at his side and little Kwan holding his hand Wufei thought Xiu was going to have a conniption fit.

Meiran was even more beautiful than Wufei had remembered. She, too, was dressed in finery, with an ornamental hat set precariously on her head. How on Earth did they get her to wear that thing? Wufei almost fell down laughing when he saw her like that, glaring and obviously unhappy at the way she looked. Darling Meiran had always been far more comfortable in her fighting gi and in the family dojo, rather than in elegant robes she was expected to wear as she was supposed to learn dancing and music and sewing, skills that bored her to tears.

She looked at Wufei and his heart started thundering. Her eyes were the same fiery eyes he remembered when they'd been together last. "So," Meiran smirked. "The clever brat is back?" Her tone was mocking and Wufei easily recognized the game they'd played since childhood.

"You are disappointed?" Wufei asked, making his voice sound as acid as hers.

She sniffed and Wufei could see Xiu watching them out of the corner of his eye. He looked very confused and Wufei suppose that it would have been kinder if he'd told Wufei about the game before they'd arrived. Xiu looked worried for them.

"You don't deserve me, Chang Wufei. You don't deserve our clan!"

_I am impressed!_ She managed to make that one sound almost real and Wufei might have believed her if he hadn't seen the gleam in her eyes. Her grandmother, as always, started to panic at our very public argument. She waved her hands, desperately trying to stop them from making a scene.  
Now, for the big finale. "Go to Hell!" Wufei snarled, turning his back on them all and letting the robes fall away, leaving only his simpler white clothes.

Everyone from the Long clan was horrified, buzzing about this strange turn of events. Xiu looked very puzzled, still holding baby Lai, but auntie Fan was smiling. Wufei started to walk past her and she whispered, barely moving her mouth, "That was childish, sweetie."

"That's half the fun. Meiran and I will be in the fields in the garden." Wufei whispered back and continued walking.

Meiran, as Wufei had known she would, followed, pretending to be furious. Well, it was an excellent way to irritate the people who'd been trying to control them their entire lives and for them to find some private time.

In the garden, the place where they'd played as children Wufei and Meiran had a proper reunion. She had gotten rid of the stifling robes her family had forced onto her and let her hair down out of the painful looking style someone had forced onto her. Meiran wore her more comfortable dark trousers and shirt and had her hair in short pig tails that she preferred. She pulled out a chain from around her neck and Wufei saw the silver dragon charm he'd given her before he'd left.

Wufei smiled and brought out the golden dragon she'd given him.

They kissed and Wufei knew it was right. That was where he wanted to be for the rest of his life.

The next day -

The wedding went about as planned. Many, many people from the Long clan attended while only the Fan family from Wufei's family. All the children, for once, were on their best behavior. Xiu was dressed in formal Chinese robes, similar to what Wufei wore but dark reds and oranges instead of plain white. Wufei didn't get sick again and for that, he was eternally grateful. Xiu sat with his mother, smiling proudly and when the ceremony was over, he was the first one to congratulate Wufei, with a friendly pat on the back.

"Dude, you're married!"

"That was the plan." Wufei reminded him as they walked to the garden where the party had just begun.

Xiu smiled at Meiran and teasingly said, "Welcome to the family, cousin. Don't let this pain in the butt bore you to death, okay? Come to Earth for a good meal, or mama won't forgive you."

Auntie stopped Meiran with a tight hug then looking at Wufei. "Oh, sweetie, I'm so happy for you!" Suddenly, at her feet, her younger six children appeared and started running around in circles. "So," Auntie continued with a pleased smile. "How many children are you planning on having, my dear?" She put an arm around Meiran and led her away from slightly. The children followed and Meiran shot an almost frightened look back at Wufei. She had no more experience with children than Wufei had had when he'd first moved in with his auntie.

"Well, are you happy?" Xiu asked, seriously for once.

Wufei thought before he answered. He looked at Meiran, then around at the Long family. He looked at auntie Fan, his little cousins, and then finally back at Xiu. "Yes, I am. This is almost perfect."

"Almost?"

"If my parents could have been here, I think then…then I couldn't have asked for more."

Xiu smiled, but it didn't last long before he frowned and seemed to look inward again.

Wufei shook his arm. "Are you alright?" When his cousin didn't answer right away, Wufei persisted. "Xiu? Can you hear me?"

"Uh? Yeah, I can hear you." He didn't sound happy.

"May I presume that this is about that link between you and your friends?" Wufei wished that Xiu had never developed the link and he was absolutely certain that it's going to cause Xiu nothing but trouble. It just doesn't seem natural to be joined to other people like that. Wufei certainly didn't think he could handle it as well as Xiu did. As far as Wufei could see, Xiu acted as if nothing were wrong. Like it had been that way his whole life instead of just a few days.

Xiu nodded and told Wufei that Touma was angry. Then Shin had gotten suddenly angry. "I thought I heard music." Xiu said, confused. "Honestly, I heard music and they both got a lot happier and...I know it sounds silly, but they were kissing all of a sudden."

Wufei raised his eyebrows, surprised. "Kissing? Touma doesn't even like to shake hands."

"I know and he practically hates Shin. What's going on?"

Wufei gestured back to the house. "There's a computer in there you can contact them, just call Quatre's house and ask what's happening." Xiu didn't move for a minute. "Unless, you really don't want to know." It was no secret to anyone that Xiu had a crush on Shin and that he and Touma were closer than friends. If something had happened between Shin and Touma, Xiu might not be very happy. It would be very confusing to say the least.

The party was, by then, in full swing with loud music and lots of dancing. Food, mainly supplied by auntie Fan, was everywhere on heavily laden tables. Xiu, standing so somber in the middle of all the happiness seemed out of place. "Maybe I should." Still frowning, Xiu walked slowly back inside.

"Where's he going?" Meiran asked, watching Xiu walk away. She'd managed to escape Wufei's younger cousins and auntie Fan had apparently let her off the hook without too much teasing. "He looks like he just lost his best friend." She put her arm around Wufei.

"He might have."

Xiu-

It was easy enough to find the communicator and a just little harder to get up the courage to dial up Quatre's number. Xiu waited for someone to answer, nervous that maybe he should have lived in blissful ignorance. A few minutes went by and Xiu could feel great happiness from Touma and Shin. It had been going on for a little while and they didn't seem like they wanted to stop. They weren't even sure what they were feeling at first, just a slow build up of happiness and then they were kissing.

It was strange. If Xiu closed his eyes he could almost see them in his head. Two blue balls of mist, one slightly darker than the other, swirling around each other, almost touching. A short distance away, there were two other balls of mist, one bright green and one red, also touched each other, and occasionally moved closer to the other two and Xiu.

Xiu didn't understand what was happening. He did know that the two blue mists were Touma and Shin, but he wasn't sure how he knew. Just like Xiu knew the other two were important, but he wasn't sure who they were, yet. Xiu thought that the green one might be Seiji, the guy who had saved Shin's life.

_I'll have to track him down when I get back to Earth and thank him properly. He just walked away before Shin could even talk to him._

The red ball of mistwas more of a mystery, but Seiji knows him. They seem to be very connected.  
Xiu swallowed hard and opened his eyes to stare at the phone, still no one picked it up and there was no image on the screen. It shouldn't matter if they liked each other, right? After all, Xiu had never said anything to either of them. Never even mentioned that he liked either one of them. It was his own fault if he'd waited too long. Could Xiu really expect them to wait for him? With the link that had tied them all together, Xiu even saw that they both loved him, they could see that he did, and Xiu had still said nothing. Now, was that arrogant or just plain stupid?

_I can't help being jealous, though. I'm not even sure whom I'm jealous of. I love them both. Oh, crap. I hate my life._

Before Xiu had met Touma, he had been so sure it was Shin he was in love with. Over the past few months, when Shin had been away with the circus touring the space colonies, Xiu had been feeling closer to Touma, also. Yes, it was selfish, but Xiu couldn't help wanting both of them. Now that was unfair,wasn't it?

Just as Xiu was about to hang up, Touma's face appeared on the screen, looking flushed and breathing hard. Jeeze, that was either SOME kiss or Xiu had interrupted more than a kiss! Touma's shirt was half-unbuttoned.

"Xiu?" He said, sounding surprised and blinked at Xiu.

"Um, hi, Touma. I was just wondering what you were up to." Xiu licked his lips and decided that he should just tell all of it. "I felt you and Shin were very happy though this thing." Xiu pointed to the glass orb still hanging around his neck. "So, what's going on?" He hoped he sounded casual and not like a peeping tom idiot.

Touma was silent. He didn't say a word and just stared at Xiu, the color draining from his face.

"Touma, who's calling?" That was Shin's voice and Xiu felt his heart sink as Shin walked in view, completely bare-chested and his hair all messed up. His eyes widened at the sight of Xiu and he bit his lip. "Xiu..."

Xiu hit the off button and stared at the blank screen. He didn't want to cry, it would ruin Wufei's wedding party if people saw him crying and he really should be thinking about Wufei and Meiran. But...Shin and Touma were...they...

Xiu could feel them both trying to touch his mind through their bond, but he didn't want to feel them, right now. Xiu didn't want to feel how happy they were together. It wasn't hard, once he tried, to build a wall like Seiji's around himself. Xiu made the thickest, hardest stone wall around his mind that he could and everyone was shut out for the first time since this thing had started days ago and Xiu was alone. It was almost frightening to be so alone, but Xiu didn't want them to know he was crying.

"Oniisan?"

Xiu turned, surprised that anyone was in the room with him, and saw little Kwan looking up at him.

"Xiu, what's wrong?" She looked worried and was frowning at Xiu. Despite how small she was, Kwan is like a little mama. She's grown up into the kind of child who always wants to play little mother and fusses about everyone.

Xiu wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and tried to smile. "Nothing, angel."

Kwan scowled at Xiu, just like mama did. "Don't lie, Xiu. You were crying and I saw it! Who made you sad?"

Xiu sat down on the floor and brought his little sister onto his lap. She still hadn't reached that age where she thought she was too big for his lap and Xiu hoped she never did. "I just found something out about my friends that made me so happy I started to cry."

She didn't seem to understand that. "You were crying because you were happy?"

"Sure," Xiu lied. "You remember my friends, Shin and Touma, right?" He'd brought them over to the house often enough that she knew them like parts of the family. She even knew Shin, though he was often away from Earth.

Kwan nodded. "Yeah. What about them?"

"Well, I found out they really, really like each other. I'm happy that they're going to be happy. So happy that I started to cry."

"Oh. Like mama cried when Wufei and Meiran got married?"

"Yeah. Just like that."

Kwan leaned up and kissed Xiu's cheek. "I'm glad you're happy, Xiu, but please don't cry. You make me sad to look at you." With that she stood up and held out a hand to Xiu. "Come back to the party, Xiu. I want you to help me steal some food when mama isn't looking."

Xiu laughed, but it didn't sound quite right, even to him. "I don't feel too good right now, Kwan. I think I'm gonna go home and lay down."

"Do you want me to get mama?" She was back to being worried again.

"Naw." Xiu stood and ruffled her hair. "We'll let mama enjoy the party, she doesn't gets to go to many. It's just a stomachache. Tell Wufei I'm sorry, but I had to go. I'll talk to him tomorrow, okay?"

Kwan nodded went off to give Wufei the message.

_My stomach hurts. My head hurts, too. I think I'm going to cry again or maybe throw up. Why should I be sad, really? Shin and Touma will be happy now, and I love them both, so I should be happy for them. I should, right?_

Earth-  
Byakuen-

Byakuen had followed Ryou when he'd brought the injured male, Seiji, back to his den. It was safer and smarter to remain a shadow and just watch what was happening for a while. However, once Byakuen was certain that neither Seiji's den sister, called Luc, nor the strange male, called Zechs, would harm either Ryou or Seiji, he began to get more curious. Byakuen explored the area before making his way back to the silent, dark house.

Creeping in, Byakuen found Seiji and Ryou asleep in each others arms and he was pleased. It seemed most fitting, as if they belong together, and it was high time Ryou found a mate. As he didn't want to disturb them, Byakuen wandered a bit more and found Luc alone in a large bed. As she had been using only half of it, Byakuen was certain she wouldn't mind sharing.

Byakuen woke to the den sister of his cub's mate screaming. It is a wonderfully loud scream and he thought she would have a great battle cry if she tried hard enough. Byakuen stretched, even as Luc, for some reason, rolled onto the floor with a hard thud. My, but that must have hurt. Still, humans always had the strange customs.

Seiji couldn't get out of bed that morning, not because he was unable to, but because his den sister would howl at him until he went to lay down again. He and Ryou had come running, still smelling of each other, when she'd screamed at seeing Byakuen on her bed. After that, she'd told Seiji to get back to bed. She was very sensible Byakuen supported her decision with a nudge to the back of Seiji's knees.

Luc looked at Byakuen, rather surprised. "Good boy. You're smarter than you look."

_Of course I am! Silly female, thinking I'm dim._ Byakuen snorted and wandered off. Ryou seemed determined to stay with Seiji so Byakuen was relatively sure that they would be safe together. After all, Ryou has found one of the power orbs, giving him the right to wear the yoroi of Rekka. Seiji wore another, the orb of Korin. They would be fine alone for a bit.

Luc walked away, too, after giving Seiji a tray of food and Byakuen decided to follow her. Byakuen was disappointed to find that she simply went to the room with the metal and glass box. She seemed fond of it and spent much of the morning tapping on it and even then seems unhappy by what she found there.

Byakuen yawned. There was no game to hunt in the area and he was not willing to go so far from Ryou, yet, so he stayed with Luc. She barely noticed him except for the occasional pat on the head or rubbing his fur if he went closer enough. Byakuen definitely liked Luc.

"Damn, another dead end." She muttered to herself.

Byakuen believed that Luc needed a mate, also. She was spending too much time alone and was talking to herself. As Byakuen understood human nature, not that he understood it well, talking to oneself was not good for humans.

Again, Luc sighed and started tapping on her box of metal and glass. "I'll find you, bastard." Luc muttered. "Just wait and see, I'll get you, yet."

Perhaps it was far past time for her to mate. This is verging on obsession, it seems seemed.  
There was a sharp knock from the door of the house and Byakuen was immediately up and ready to defend the den. Old instincts were hard to suppress. It was not where he permanently intended to live, but it was where his cub was and these people obviously needed protection. Who better than Byakuen?

Luc called out, "Who's there?"

It was Zech's voice, now familiar, that answered, "Is this a bad knock-knock joke or are you going to let me in?"

Luc, for the first time in several hours stood up and walked out to answer the door followed by Byakuen, just to be sure everything was safe. Zechs came in, wearing the metal mask, but he took it off almost as soon as he crossed the threshold. Then he saw Byakuen, but there was little fear in his scent. Curious, most humans feared Byakuen at first sight.

"Is this a new friend?" Zechs asked, not taking his eyes off Byakuen.

_Very good, little human._ Byakuen thought. The man certainly had wisdom if he was wise enough to know Byakuen was dangerous. Byakuen went to Zechs to examine him more closely as the last time Byakuen had seen him, it had been from a distance when the man had been helping Seiji. He was a tall man with long white, straight fur, much like Rajura had, but not so curly. This one smelled, and seemed to act like, a beta male.

Byakuen believed that Zechs was a power within his family group and, so, decided to allow him to stay. As long as Zechs did not overstep his bounds and attempt to take Byakuen's family group or harm them, he would be welcome.

"He's Ryou's friend." Luc answered. "Ryou calls him Byakuen. He seems quite friendly, really. He showed up this morning."

Luc led Zechs back to the room where she'd been working and they spoke together in friendly tones about Seiji and finding someone that had hurt him. Listening to them, Byakuen thought that perhaps he would help find the person who'd hurt Seiji so terribly. Byakuen wondered if Zechs wants to take Luc as his mate and why he called her Noin. Perhaps it was a term of affection for humans. Still, he would have to pass inspection if he wanted to take Luc to his family group and away from Byakuen's - it was only proper.

Another knock at the door and Zechs rose to answer it, leaving Luc to tap on her box. "Noin, Trieze is here." Zechs came back with a male Byakuen had not smelled before.

Cautiously, Byakuen stood and walked over to him, knowing that he was a male to be weary of. This Trieze was an alpha, a leader with sharp eyes. Byakuen sniffed him up and down, but though he could find nothing wrong with him decided to keep and eye on him. Just to be sure.  
Trieze looked down at Byakuen with one raised eyebrow and they stared at each other.

_Yes, definitely a male that might be dangerous to my family group._ Byakuen decided that Trieze had better watch his place. Trieze didn't ask any questions about Byakuen, as Zechs had. He just accepted Byakuen's presence and moved on.

Zechs, as Byakuen watched, kept a close eye on Trieze. He gave off a mating scent. Well, at least now Byakuen knew it wasn't Luc that Zechs was courting. Trieze and Zechs virtually reek of each other.

Trieze and Zechs stayed for a long while, Byakuen kept a close eye on them, especially when Ryou walked in suddenly and found everyone staring at him. It was times like that in which Byakuen wished he were able to speak the human language. He would be able to tell them, _Ryou is my cub. You will not touch!_ But actions would have to speak. Byakuen stood and walked over to him, putting himself between Ryou and the new males.

Trieze, as was his place as an alpha male, spoke first. "Hello, Lieutenant Noin was just telling me all about you. You must be Ryou, right?" He held out a hand to Ryou.

"Um," Ryou just looked at the hand for a minute. "Yeah. I'm Ryou." He slowly reached out with his hand and let Trieze shake it. This is a new human custom Byakuen had not seen before and he was, naturally, suspicious.

"You can call me Trieze."

Worried, Ryou looked at Luc who said, "Don't worry. They're friends of mine and they're just visiting."

"Actually, I really can't stay long." Trieze picked up his cloak even as he spoke. "Duty calls and I must answer. Will you consider my invitation, Noin?" He held out a white card of paper with some kind of gold writing on it.

She smiled and took it. "Thanks, but I really don't want to leave Seiji alone, yet."

"So, bring him."

"Are you sure?"

"Why not. In fact, I've invited a couple of other young men to the part and they might like someone their own age to talk to."

Noin gave him a suspicious look. "Now, why would you invite a teenagers to your party and, please, don't tell me anything perverted."

Trieze laughed slightly. "Nothing perverted. One of them applied for a job, but he's only fifteen and I want to see how he interacts with my staff. I wouldn't hire him until he gets a little older, but I want him to have a good opinion of us when he gets old enough."

Noin and Zechs both looked surprised. "He's that good?" Zechs asked. Trieze nodded. "He could win the war for us, Zechs. I don't think even he realizes the potential he has with that intelligence of his."

"What war?" Ryou asked and everyone looked back to him, as if they'd forgotten he was in the room.

Most people probably would have just told the boy to mind his own business, but Trieze answered. "We are expecting a war very soon, young man. When it breaks out, I would like to have the best people on my side and that includes this young man in particular."

Ryou was frowning now. "War? War?" He whispered to himself and Byakuen could see his face twisted up, trying to remember something. Ryou looked at the adult humans. "Who are you going to fight?"

"It's probably better that you don't know." Luc answered, brushing a piece of her short hair behind one ear. "The less you know now, the safer you'll be later."

Still, Ryou knelt next to Byakuen and ran his fingers through Byakuen's fur. "What am I forgetting, Yaku-chan? It's something about a war, I'm sure of it."

Byakuen knew Ryou was thinking about the war that he's been raised to fight in, the war that will be waged against this world. Byakuen looked up, away from Ryou, and saw the three adult humans giving Ryou strange looks.

It was Trieze who spoke. "What do you mean, you remember something about a war?"

Byakuen didn't like his tone, as if he was hiding something. He has become a predator and he's looking at my cub. Byakuen stood, baring his teeth and hoped that Trieze would gets the idea to back off.

Trieze stepped back, but didn't take his eyes off Ryou. "Do you know something, Ryou?"

Ryou, not aware that Trieze was dangerous, just shrugged. "I'm not sure. My memory has been playing tricks on me lately."

Trieze smiled, and Byakuen growled, not liking Trieze suddenly. Trieze managed to ignore him and just spoke to Ryou. "Let Noin know if you remember anything, won't you?" Trieze asked, still smiling. "I would love to know what you know about a war."

Ryou, puzzled, nodded agreeably and Trieze left.

"I don't think Byakuen likes Trieze much." Zechs said. "Something about that 'war' comment."

Ryou patted Byakuen's back until he started relaxing - Ryou had always known just the right spots to touch. "He doesn't. I'm not sure why, Yaku-chan usually likes everyone."

"He won't hurt Trieze, will he?" Zechs asked.

Ryou shook his head. "Probably not."

After Trieze left, Byakuen found himself feeling much more comfortable. When it started to get dark, Zechs also left and Byakuen was free to go about his other search now that the males had left his new home. The other search was just as important as the search for Ryou and Byakuen could only hope that it would end as well. Duo was still missing and Kokuen-Oh wouldn't forgive Byakuen if he didn't find the cub. Duo should be easy enough to find, once Byakuen picked up his scent.

Outer Space-  
Major Sally Po-

Major Sally Po stared at the large monitor in front of her and narrowed her eyes at the order she'd just been given. General Septem, her commander, was known to be quite ruthless but this... "You want me to murder the people on A0206!" Sally Po leaned forward in disbelief. "How can you ask me to do such a thing?"

"I didn't say that. But that colony is old and useless. So I'm telling you to disinfect it before we scrap it."

Sally Po shook her head, not wanting to believe the heartless orders she'd just been given. "I'll admit that A0206 is decrepit. However, in that case, we should offer the inhabitants another colony, or at least renew the support systems. YO-448 is a biological weapon. As a doctor, no as a human being, I can not condone such an inhumane act!" She slammed her fist down on the computer console to make her point. There was no way she would do this!

"There are dangerous elements at colony A0206." General Septem continued, as if he didn't even hear her. "This is a necessary measure to preserve the peace of Earth Sphere."

"But, sir..."

"That's all I have to say. Disinfect these rebellious germs! Do I make myself clear, sanitation squad commander?"

Sally Po was speechless at both the monstrous command and the insult. Sanitation? She was a respected doctor for God's sakes! With a growl of rage, Sally Po glared straight ahead. "This is insane! There's no was such a massacre could be justified!"

"The OZ advance team is going in!"

Sally Po turned to look at her subordinate who'd shouted out. Indeed, on the monitor in front of them, they could see a dozen or so MS flying down with their huge guns ready for action.

"How very unlike Trieze." Sally Po muttered to herself. She didn't know him well, but from what she did know Trieze was not the sort to rush into an attack like this. He seemed to prefer to act behind the scenes and manipulate in order to get his way. A direct attack was too obvious for his taste.

"Should we attack?" One of the soldiers asked Sally Po.

She answered quickly. "No."

"What? But General Septem said..."

"I know what he said, soldier. I want to see what Trieze is up to." If he went through with this massacre then she might have to rethink her opinion of him.

A single, decrepit MS flew up from the colony, ready, if not quite able, to defend the people below. "Now there's a real warrior." Sally Po said loud enough for everyone to hear. "Someone to be proud of."

Colony A0206-  
Wufei-

Kwan said Xiu would talk to Wufei today, but he can't find his cousin anywhere. Xiu had vanished in the middle of Wufei's wedding party, so he knew there was probably something wrong, something more than a stomachache as he'd apparently told Kwan. Xiu wouldn't leave for so little a reason. Auntie was ready to kill him, though, for running off like that.

He wasn't at the apartment where his family was staying during their visit, which meant that Wufei had to search for him. Luckily, Meiran had gone away earlier to the family dojo to get some work done, so Wufei didn't have to feel badly about leaving her alone on the day after their wedding.  
Wufei finally managed to find Xiu, but not in the places he'd expected. Wufei had gone to all the restaurants and the dojos, then to the places where most teenagers like to hang out. There was no sign of him anywhere. Out of frustration and lack of ideas, Wufei went to the field of wild flowers where he'd always liked reading. It was quiet there and no one but Wufei ever went there. So, of course, that's where Xiu was.

Xiu was laying on his back in the flowers, his hands behind his head as he looked up at the sky. It seemed very out of character for Xiu.

Wufei went and sat next to him. "How's your stomach?"

He didn't look at Wufei. "Fine."

"Kwan was worried, you know."

Xiu nodded, but still didn't look at Wufei.

_I'm no good at this sort of thing! I don't understand this whole emotional thing that Xiu seems to need right now and I can't do anything if he doesn't want to talk about whatever's wrong. I know if I didn't want to talk about a problem, I certainly wouldn't want Xiu butting his nose in, so maybe I should just walk away and let him sort out his own problem._

"I found out what they were so happy about." Xiu said suddenly.

"What? They who?"

"Touma and Shin. I called them last night, like you said I should. They were...they..." He closed his eyes for a minute and took a deep breath. "They're in love and I think they were, well, more than kissing when I interrupted them."

Wufei didn't know what to say to that, so the two of them just sat together in silence for a minute.

"I think I really am as dumb as everyone says I am." Xiu continued.

"What?" If there was one thing Wufei couldn't stand, it was when people would hint that Xiu was dumb. He's really very smart, he just doesn't show it off.

"I fell in love with them both and I never did anything about it. Now, it's too late." A tear slid down his cheek, which he quickly wiped away. "Never even said anything. How stupid can I get?"

"Maybe you should talk to them first." It was the only thing Wufei could advise him to do. He'd never had this problem as it had been decided who he would marry. Wufei considered himself lucky that he'd fallen for Meiran and she for him- there were many marriages that didn't work out so well - but Xiu had to find whom he wanted to love. "You don't know for sure that they were...well, doing anything, do you?" That was the most delicate way Wufei could think to say it.

If Xiu had been able to feel that they were kissing, would he have felt it if they were...um... "No, I don't." Xiu opened his eyes, but Wufei could see that he still didn't have much hope. Either that or he didn't want to raise his hopes. "But they were so happy. I can't explain it, Wufei. I know they're in love."

Wufei opened his mouth to say something when the whole colony shook violently. Xiu sat up instantly, putting his problem to the side. "What's going on?" He looked around in confusion, even as the colony started shaking again.

Wufei's eyes narrowed and he looked up. "We're under attack."

"Who would want to attack this place?" Xiu asked, baffled. He knew how peaceful they, as a colony, were. Unfortunately, he didn't know that they'd been working on a plan to break away from Earth along with the other colonies. The Alliance must have gotten information about the building rebellion and they've come to stop them.

Wufei shouted at Xiu over the noise of the battle. "We have to get back to the city! I have to find Meiran!" As soon as Wufei knew she was safe, he would find a way to help in the battle. Meiran come first, though.

Xiu started running with Wufei, but he yelled. "Mama's visiting the head of the Long clan, so she'll be safe enough in her place. I gotta find the kids!"

They separated as soon as they reached the main part of the colony where everyone lived. Meiran wasn't in the home she and Wufei had been given as part of their wedding gift from the head of the Long clan and she wasn't at the dojo. Wufei couldn't find her anywhere. Then, he looked up. There, in the blackness of space, a full-fledged battle, his mouth dropped in utter horror. In the center of the battle was Meiran's Mobil Suit, alone.

No.

Nataku, the name Meiran used in battle, fired at the attacking forces, but only managing to destroy one while another crippled her left arm.

Wufei screamed, "Get out of there, Meiran!" She was alone up there surrounded by six enemies. Wufei shook his fists at the battle. "Run away! Meiran, you idiot! Get away!" Of course she couldn't hear and there was only one thing Wufei could think to do. He had to get to Shen Long! Past the streets mobbed with panicked people, past the house Xiu and his family were using, Wufei ran until he came to the lab where Professor O was building Shen Long, supposedly nearing completion. He was in the lab, working on it and Wufei ran straight passed him, jumping into Shen Long's cockpit. Shen Long was the Gundam Wufei's colony had been working so hard to create for so long. It was meant as a defense against the Alliance and now it would be tried out for the first time.

"Stop!" Professor O shouted. "Shen Long has no weapons!"

"Doesn't matter!" Wufei knew how to use the Gundam. It had been apart of his training for several years before he'd been sent away from the colony and even after he'd arrived on Earth, Professor O sent Wufei training materials. It was meant to be Wufei who faced the Alliance in battle, not Meiran!

Wufei took off to save his wife.

The battle went badly, though Wufei managed to fight off the attackers and get one name from the transmissions of the enemies: Treize.

Wufei ended up carrying Meiran's MS back to the colony, landing as easily as he could so as to not jar her. Wufei didn't know what kind of condition she was in or if she was even alive. Her MS had been an older one, not the best, as the attackers had been, and she'd taken quite the beating.

Meiran wouldn't speak to Wufei over the communicator and once he saw her, Wufei understood why. Wufei had climbed out of the Gundam and climbed directly across Shenlong's arm to reach Meiran as quickly as possible. Her cockpit opened easily enough to reveal...blood.

That was all Wufei could see, at first. Blood seemed to be everywhere, splattered all over the cockpit, coming from Meiran's still, broken face. He touched her face, rubbing her cheek gently. "Meiran, Meiran, wake up, please." _Don't die._

Slowly, her eyes opened and she smiled painfully at Wufei. "My Wufei. You came to fight with me."

Wufei didn't even try to smile back, but leaned in and unfastened her safety harness. "I wish you'd waited for me."

"No time. I didn't even know where you were." She took a deep, rasping breath. "I love you, Wufei."

"I love you, too." Wufei knew what was happening. She was losing too much blood, too quickly. She's so terribly pale. "We have to get you to the medical."

"No."

"Don't be foolish, you'll die."

"I'll die anyway. Take me to your field, Wufei. I want to see the flowers again."

In the field-

"I wasn't strong enough to save you." Wufei whispered while he set her gently down in the flowers. _I'm a failure and she's dying for it!_ Wufei sat with her and Meiran leaned her head against his shoulder.

"You are the strongest person I've ever met, don't ever let anyone tell you that you're weak. I saved your meadow, Wufei." She looked out at the flowers with a soft smile. "I want to stay here, where there's no battle. Just you and me and the flowers."

"Yes"

She died on Wufei's shoulder, still smiling and looking more at peace that he'd ever seen her before.

Wufei lay her down and squeezed his eyes tightly before he started to cry. Wufei believed that he would never love after Meiran. His heart and his soul, his reason for living, was gone. She had been an innocent woman who never should have been in battle. It never should have happened!

_I will avenge Meiran, if it takes the rest of my life, I will see her murderers receive justice!_

Xiu-

Xiu starting running, but not to the safe, strong palace where he knew his mother would be. His brothers and sisters had been sent to the crèche, a daycare, where they could play with other children for the day and he knew that would be the more vulnerable place. As fast as he ran, Xiu had to struggle couldn't seem to go as fast as he wanted to. The ground was shaking, worse than any earthquake he had ever heard of. Buildings were collapsing left and right and people were screaming, trying to find their families.

Xiu stopped and stared in horror when he came to the crèche, the spot where it had been, rather. The whole building had crumbled, leaving nothing but a massive pile of rubble. "No." Desperately, Xiu ran into the mess and started to dig with his bare hands, trying to ignore the fear that was eating him alive. "Come on. Come on." He mumbled, pulling debris out of the way. His family was in here, somewhere. _Damn it, I'm not strong enough!_

Xiu reached a long timber that he couldn't budge. Even as he strained to move it so he could dig deeper, Xiu froze when it appeared in front of him. Like something emerging from a deep mist, it appeared slowly in front of him. All of his life, Xiu had dreamed of the orange armor. When it had solidified, Xiu set his jaw. "What do you want?" He had no time for nightmares.

"ACCEPT ME. I WILL GIVE YOU THE STRENGTH."

Xiu's eyes narrowed, not questioning it. He would give anything to save his family. "Yes." He said out loud. Best to think about the implications later, after his family was safe.

"CALL TO ME. BUSSO KONGO."

Xiu screamed, at the top of his lungs. "Busso Kongo!" The orange armor moved, walking stiffly toward him and Xiu waited for something to happen. Just as it reached Xiu, the armor faded, almost turning misty, and then reformed around him. Suddenly, Xiu had all the strength he needed.  
The timber was feather light, with Kongo's help. Under several more feet of rubble, Xiu found the first, Kwan. He stared at her twisted body, pale and bloody. Her hair was matted with wet blood and her eyes stared back at him.

Kwan blinked slowly and said, in a voice hardly more than a whisper, "Xiu?"

Xiu patted the hair out of her face. "I'm here, Kwan. Just rest, I...I'll get mama and a doctor. Oh…man! You're hurt pretty bad." Xiu looked around at the still frightened people of L5. "Please, someone help me!" But no one stopped to help him as he cradled his sister's body. "She's only seven, someone help me!" Still, no one was listening. No one stopped their panicked dash to their own loved ones and Xiu was alone with Kwan still bleeding and getting paler as the seconds ticked by.

"Don't be afraid, Xiu." Kwan put her head against his shoulder. "I love you." And she died.

"Kwan?" Xiu shook her gently, desperately hoping that she would wake again. "Please, Kwan, don't." She, of course, didn't wake up. No miracle happened and Xiu was left with the body of his sister in his arms, an innocent child who should never have been involved in a war.

Xiu threw his head back and screamed with all his might, no words, just an angry howl at the world and the wall around his mind shattered, falling like dust and letting his friends see and feel his pain.

He felt the minds of his friends, suddenly rushing into his, turning and jumbled, afraid of whatever had upset him. Clumsily, they tried to reach out to him, tried to comfort him. Xiu pushed them all away. He didn't want comfort. He ignored them as best as he could.

Slowly, he climbed down the demolished building and set Kwan down a safe distance away. Xiu closed Kwan's eyes before climbing back up, his face set in a hard mask, even as he cried for his sister. One at a time, Xiu pulled them out. Wing and Chung, the twins, then Fai, the second oldest brother, and tiny Mei-Lin, still with her pacifier in her mouth and dressed only in her diaper.  
All dead. Xiu ran out of tears by the time he'd laid out his three brothers and two sisters on the ground. He wanted to lay down and die with them. He wasn't even strong enough to save them! Xiu wiped his face with one gauntlet hand, trying to keep going. He had to find Lai. The baby, he just had to find her body. It was the least he could do. He couldn't leave Lai's spirit suffering alone.

Digging through the stuff, Xiu was tired, so terribly tired, he wanted to give up and just sit down.  
Then, a cry.

Xiu's eyes flew open and he listened carefully.

A baby screamed and Xiu dove back into digging out with gusto. Even if it wasn't Lai, even if it was someone else's baby, he had to save them. He had to get them out! Parts of walls and doors went flying until Xiu found an overturned crib. It had turned upside-down and miraculously protected the baby from the falling building. Xiu grabbed the legs of the crib and tossed it over his shoulder then looked down at the baby.

Lai! She was alive! Scraped and bruised, but alive! Xiu scooped her up and he started to cry again, this time, so happy to have her. She was dirty and bleeding, her voice failing from so much screaming, but she was alive! Xiu fell to his knees, as he held her as closely as he could without hurting her, not caring that she was crying so loudly, she was alive!

Wufei-

Wufei left Meiran in the field, respecting her wishes, and went to look for Xiu, to see if any of his other family had survived. Auntie Fan and Wufei met in the city, where she was frantically searching amongst survivors for her children. She saw Wufei and her eyes lit up. "Wufei, sweetie!" She pulled him for a hug tightly. "Thank God you're safe!"

Wufei didn't say anything, he wanted to cry again, but thought that he had to find everyone else first.

"Where's Meiran? Is she all right?" Auntie Fan asked quickly. When Wufei didn't answer she must have seen something in his face. "Oh, no!"

"We have to find the others." Wufei told her briskly, sharper than he'd meant to. "Xiu said he was going to find the kids." If Wufei were to think of Meiran, he knew he would cry again.

Auntie Fan probably understood as she nodded and they made their way to the crèche together.  
They found Xiu, kneeling on the ground, his arms crossed over his chest and five small bodies in front of him. "No, please..." Auntie Fan started forward and Wufei could see she was trembling. Xiu wasn't moving, his head lowered, chin almost touching his chest. They got close enough for Wufei to see his cousins, his sweet little cousins, dead at Xiu's feet.

Auntie Fan screamed and ran to her children, falling down next to Xiu, touching and patting their hair as if she could somehow wake them. "My babies!" She cried. "My babies!" With tears streaming down her face she collapsed, burying her face in her hands over Mei-Lin. It was the first time Wufei had ever seen her cry.

Xiu, for the first time since Wufei and auntie Fan had gotten there, looked up, his eyes red and puffy from crying. "Mama." Xiu opened his arms and revealed his treasure. Lai.

The tiny baby was fussing and auntie Fan looked up, her face showing relief and joy that her youngest had lived. She hugged Lai tightly and kissed her soundly, before putting her arm around Xiu. "Thank you, baby."

"For what?" Xiu asked bitterly. "I couldn't save them." He looked down at the ones that had been lost.

"You saved Lai." Auntie Fan told him. "And you lived. What would I do without my babies?" Auntie Fan pulled Xiu into a hug and he wrapped his arms around his mother and sister, the little family just holding onto each other. Wufei watched from a distance, content to let them have privacy right now.

_I will have justice. For Meiran. For Kwan and for Mei-Lin. For Chung and Wing, for Fai and for all the other innocents who'd died today. For auntie Fan and for Xiu, who would have to go on living without the children. For Lai, who would never know her brothers and sisters. I will have revenge! Just you wait and see, Trieze, whoever you are! I'm coming for you!_

To be continues...


	15. Party Night

Chapter 15: PARTY NIGHT

Byakuen-

It had taken a good long time to search until Byakuen found the scent he was looking for outside the city and when he found it, the large tiger focused on it single-mindedly. Byakuen sniffed at the ground. Following the familiar scent had led him through nearly the entire city while trying to keep out of sight. He knew Ryou was safe with Seiji, the one-eyed human had the look and feel of a hunter about him. Ryou would be safer with Seiji than anywhere else.

Now, there was the other cub, Duo, to find and Byakuen would find him, no matter what! He owed it to Kokuen-Oh, since his twin hadn't been able to get here and do it himself. The scent of the longhaired Duo was soon led Byakuen to a destroyed building with dead humans all around. Byakuen snorted in disgust when he realized it was humans who had done this to each other and not some kind of natural disaster or accident.

Humans were horrible creatures when you got them in large groups. Individually, Byakuen could deal with them, but herds of humans were too much for any civilized creature to stand. Why, there were mostly dead cubs in the rubble and what kind of insane species kills its own young?  
Byakuen also wondered, as he continued following the trail away from the dead, why the humans had left the bodies behind. After all, fresh meat was nothing to be wasted. He'd eat it himself, but human always gave him heartburn.

It took only a short while for Byakuen to wander back into the city. He had to quickly take to the rooftops to avoid screams of silly humans who saw him. It was harder to follow the scent from up there, but not impossible. Soon, Duo's scent mixed with the smell of another human and after that, a chase had apparently developed. One led the other through the city and eventually had ended with a truce as Byakuen caught up to them in an alley and both were sitting on the ground, trying to rest from the chase.

Another cub, about Duo's age sat with him in the alley, was quietly listening while Duo chattered. Byakuen stopped to wait on the rooftop, watching them. The stranger spoke softly, but not more than a few words and Duo seemed to be sitting as closely to the stranger as he could. After they were finished talking, Byakuen decided that it was time to go back to Ryou.

Byakuen jumped down landing right in front of Duo and the stranger. He noted with disapproval that humans didn't feed their young well, the stranger was stick thin! He also smelled familiar.

"Byakuen!" Duo shouted happily and ran to the tiger, throwing his arms around him. "I've missed you! Are you all right?" Byakuen then noticed that Duo had lost all of his clothes to the other cub. He was completely bare, in just his skin. Well, maybe the other cub had been cold and Duo had given him his clothes. Duo was very generous like that.

Byakuen licked Duo's face fondly, making Duo laugh and wipe off the tiger slobber with his arm. "Where's Ko-chan?" Duo asked.

Byakuen could only moan sadly to try and tell Duo he didn't know where his darker brother was.

"Don't worry, Byakuen. I'm sure everything will be all right once we go home. Hey, this is my friend, Heero. He tried to kill me a few minutes ago, but it's okay, now." Duo told him with his customary smile.

Byakuen went to examine Heero closer and the boy stiffened, but showed no other signs of stress, which interested Byakuen endlessly. Most humans did tend to scream when they saw him. Duo was a very forgiving boy, willing to completely forget that his new friend had just tried to kill him.  
Heero. Byakuen remember, when Duo mentioned the name. Kay had found him and he was trying to help her, or so she'd told Anubisu when they were bringing her home. Anubisu had been upset that Byakuen and Kokuen-Oh had brought Kay to the Ningen-Sekai, but Byakuen hadn't been too worried. Kay was far stronger than her brothers gave her credit for, so she could have taken care of herself if any real danger had shown itself. Heero seemed to be a kind person, he must be or he wouldn't have tried to help Kay.

Byakuen grabbed Duo's braid with his mouth and gave it a yank, trying to encourage Duo to follow him. Duo protested, "That is not a chew toy!" And jerked his hair out of Byakuen's mouth. Byakuen rolled his eyes and nudged Duo with his nose. Honestly, what did it take to get the boy moving?

Duo finally got the picture after a little while. "Do you know a way to get home?" He asked eagerly. "I've got a score to settle with the monster thing that was attacking Ryou and me." His eyes narrowed slightly and Byakuen believe Duo must be thinking of the demon emperor that rules the Youja-Kai. He must be angry about the way he was exiled he Youja-Kai.

Byakuen, not for the first time, wished he could speak human. No, he couldn't take Duo home, yet. They had to wait to be rescued by the other humans in Youja-Kai. But, he did know where Ryou was he wanted to get back to him. They would be safe until the older humans could rescue them.  
After Duo started to follow Byakuen out of the alley, he looked back at Heero, still sitting where Byakuen had found him, looking almost lost in Duo's old robes. "Heero, wanna come with us"

Heero blinked and seemed to consider the offer. "Yes." He stood and walked with them and Byakuen thought that he liked this cub. He walked well, with very little noise, and he didn't speak nearly so much as Duo. He felt like a good person.

Youja Kai-

First, they had to figure out a way to have Arago send them to the Ningen-Sekai to find the children.

It shouldn't be hard to outsmart Arago. Arago wasn't exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer. Well, to put it bluntly, Arago was dumb as a box of hammers. Face it, the only reason he was in control of the Youja-Kai was because he had the raw power to back up his orders.

As they left Rajura's Garden of Illusions, riding back to the palace, they spoke completely in their minds, trying to figure out the best plan. Overhead appeared the ghostly image of Arago, magnified many times to fill the whole sky.

IDIOT BOY'S BACK. All the Ma-Sho snickered together in their minds. In this world of limited entertainment, Arago had become a secret punching bag for the relief of their boredom. Teasing the demon emperor was a source of unending pleasure, even if they couldn't say such things to his face.

"My Ma-Sho. Come to my throne room at once." Was all that he said before vanishing again.  
The four samurai spurred the demon horses into a faster pace, ready to obey. Despite disrespect they had for their master, the Ma-Sho's were all very good samurai. They served their master without fail. 'Well,' Sh'ten thought, 'most of the time.' Sometimes. When they weren't to busy washing their hair or feeding the animals. In fact, almost everything was more important than listening to Arago rant and rave. If only they didn't need his power.

Sh'ten was loyal only to his brothers, not to Arago. Sh'ten eyes met Rajura's as they rode, thundering across the plains on the demon horses. The oldest and youngest of the quartet, they both shared similar ambitions. While Naaza and Anubisu seemed more content to simply stay safe and together, Sh'ten knew that he and Rajura both had bigger plans. Plans that had much to do with gathering the rest of the yoroi, though not for Arago's benefit.

The Ma-Sho knelt in front of their lord and master, careful to keep their eyes respectfully on the floor. "My Ma-Sho, I have located one of the yoroi. The yoroi of Kongo is readying to come forth and claim its bearer. You will retrieve it and the bearer." Arago's voice thundered with glee.  
Mentally, all four Ma-Sho screamed happily at the chance to get to the Ningen-Sekai without having to think up a plan to outsmart Arago, but outwardly they remained as still as possible. A gate opened behind them.

Anubisu spoke. "My lord, may we have Kokuen-Oh to serve us on this mission? His help is always most valuable." In their minds Anubisu told his brothers, HE'LL BE USEFUL TO HELP US LOOK FOR BYAKUEN AND THOSE MISSING CHILDREN.

But Arago said, angrily. "The animal has betray me!"

"What?" Anubisu asked in disbelief.

"He has sided with Lord Saber Strike against me and if seen, you will kill him!"

That was the end of the conversation and in perfect unison, the warriors stood and transformed into their own yoroi, their second skins, and stepped through the gateway. The sensation was practically nothing. A brief feeling that the floor had vanished under their feet and then they were standing in the middle of a busy street with many mortals staring at them.

"What the Hell are you staring at!" Naaza yelled at them, making everyone move on their way, pretending not to see the four bizarrely dressed people with the very large weapons. WEAKLINGS! Naaza sneered. THEY DESERVE TO GET CONQUERED. He was still bitter about the treatment he'd gotten when he was still mortal and living in this world. Naaza really, really didn't like mortals.

Sh'ten had to agree that modern day humans were pathetic. You'd think that someone would at least ask them why they were so heavily armed in the middle of a fairly peaceful city. WE WILL, IN JUST A LITTLE WHILE. WE NEED THE YOROI FIRST AND THEN THE WAR WILL START. WE'LL SHOW THEM WHAT FEAR IS. Yes, Sh'ten knew he was not a nice person, but he was happy.

They all looked forward to the first decent war any of them had seen in centuries and Sh'ten especially was looking forward to trying out his torture skills. It had been so long since he'd worked in his playroom. While Naaza called it the Hell's Domain, it was really just a basement with a few interesting toys. Ah, the good old days when he could just take an enemy and...Sh'ten shook his head. Business now, fun later. Fun when he could use the whips and the serrated knives and the vats of boiling pig fat and, of course, the Jell-O, and never forget the whip cream...

"Sh'ten, you're drooling, again. What are you thinking about?" Anubisu said.

"Whip cream." Sh'ten answered dreamily.

The Ma-Sho all shook their heads, knowing better than to ask about Sh'ten's hobbies. Rajura spoke for the first time in a long time and Sh'ten blushed as he wiped the drool off his chin. "I'll go find Kongo and Anubisu, you should go find Byakuen."

Anubisu nodded, agreeing. "I can feel Byakuen nearby." He turned slightly and his eyes seemed to lose focus as if he could see the tiger he was looking for. "He should be able to take us to the children from that picture." The picture in question had been pretty much memorized so they could recognize any of the children if they saw them.

Naaza said, "I'll go with you, Rajura. Sh'ten, you go with Anubisu."

Sh'ten looked disappointed when he finally got his mind away from the whip cream. "But I want to go with you, Za-chan."

Naaza narrowed his eyes. "You always get side tracked and this is important. We have to find Kongo and make sure he's going to join us and not be to loyal to Arago before we go home."

Sh'ten gave his lover a hopeful grin. "I'll be good."

"The day you're good, is the day that Rajura starts squishing his spiders." Naaza crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly. "You always get distracted when we're on a mission. I swear I get jumped every time we come here."

"You're no fun."

"Suffer." Naaza replied with a heartless sneer.

"I'd rather make you suffer."

"Not until tonight."

"Promise?"

Rajura interrupted. "Are you two quite finished?" He looked around at the people staring at them, or more specifically, their yoroi. "I think we should look a little more inconspicuous, though." He waved them all behind a building where he could spin his illusions in secret, a simple thing to give them more modern looking clothes. Solid black suits with black sunglasses were very sharp looking and seemed to suit them.

Anubisu ran a hand over his chest with an appreciative. "I like it." Of course, it was his favorite color. "Very nice."

They split into the two teams with their respective assignments. It should be simple enough to find Kongo. All they had to do was will themselves near to wherever Kongo was at that moment. The yoroi orb acted as sort of a beacon and could draw them all together when needed. Oddly, though, when they concentrated, Rajura and Naaza both looked up with startled expressions.

"What's wrong?" Sh'ten asked.

"Reach out with your mind and feel for Kongo. Tell me what you feel." Rajura told him.  
Sh'ten, curiously did as he was told and was just as surprised as his brothers. "There are five of them! I can feel all five of the orbs."

The four of them stood in silence for a moment. "This means we can start the war soon, right?" Anubisu asked eagerly. "If they've all appeared then it must be getting close to the time. We can finally do something instead of just fighting each other."

Slow smiles spread around the group. Yes. War. All they had to do was collect their new brothers in arms and explain what they were going to do, hoping that none of them were pacifists or something equally bizarre, and set about conquering what ever they pleased. No more bowing and scraping to Arago, no more waiting in the dark, misty Youja-Kai, no more feeling as if part of them were missing.

BUT WHICH ONE IS KONGO? Rajura asked, examining the powers he felt on the edge of his mind. Floating like bubbles just outside his reach, an infuriating beauty, impossible to touch without destroying it. Rajura felt Sh'ten's power, brilliant and sharp, slide out along side his own, reaching out of their communal minds to look at the new ones. One was fire red, beating with a frantic, primitive rhythm. Naaza came to look, also, watching intently a soft blue one. Anubisu tried to reach out at the green one, warm and vibrant green, screaming with life, but he was blocked. They were limited by the confines of their communal mind, the part of themselves that was shared between them. Rajura saw the orange one, more solid looking than the others, as if the power were bursting to be released. This one called to Rajura, almost seeming to be pull at him, and he knew which one they needed to find first. Kongo was readying to claim its bearer and whoever that was couldn't be allowed to go through that alone.

Rajura remembered his first moments, when he'd been claimed by the yoroi.

Flashback-

Pain and fear, his mind seemed to expand, as if it were enlarging itself, waiting for more to fill it. Kuroda Jirougorou fell to his knees in the study of his home. His writings lay scattered on the floor from when he'd over turned his desk at the sight of the demon inside his home.

Jirougorou clutched the sides of his head, even as the yoroi formed around him. "Stop!" He screamed at the demon's head floating in front of him. "Leave me alone!"

"You wanted power." Arago reminded him, seeming pleased by Jirougorou's reaction to the yoroi. "You wanted revenge against those who murdered your family. I give you that power and you want me to stop?"

"It's too much." Jirougorou whimpered, kneeling on the floor in full yoroi. "I can't take it." If this was power, he didn't want it, he wasn't strong enough to handle it. Jirougorou's mind seemed too large, like an empty room waiting to be filled. His own mind was just a piece of furniture in the room, but it needed more to make the room complete.

"You will learn." The demon told him harshly. "You are mine, now! You are Rajura, master of Illusion. Kuroda Jirougorou is no more!"

"Please, help me." Rajura begged, wanting his own mind back. He didn't care what the demon called him, he felt so alone.

The demon's face vanished, but in front of him, Rajura saw a door framed by two large, ornate red columns. The doors slowly creaked open and Rajura felt himself being pulled in. There was no going back. He was dragged into a world far different from his own.

Sudden loneliness and fear that he'd be alone forever were all that Rajura had for company in the Youja-Kai. He was the sole living human with no one for companionship or even to talk to. Arago had no compassion for Rajura's pain and left him to sort himself out.

Then the visions started coming from his own power, still untrained, sparked the most absurd visions without warning. Foolish things like a boy running with a dog or horrifying monsters that had never existed anywhere. The power showed him all manner of illusions, from his long dead family to visions of what the far future would be. It was not unusual to find him in some corner of the empty palace, rocking back and forth while the visions haunted him. "It's not real." He muttered to himself, trying not to see. "None of this is real!"

But it was getting harder to convince himself of that as he watched his mother burn at the stake as a witch. Hard to remember when he'd seen such nightmarish wars in a future world where innocent children were used as killers, flying in metal monsters in the star-filled sky. The horror of seeing these things, real or not, had finally made Rajura lose his reason. He found himself in the vast armory, holding a long dagger with its sharp edge aimed at his face. _If I have no eyes, surely I won't see these things._ It had seemed logical at the time. Just take the eyes and the visions would end.

Rajura had carved out his own eye with the dagger, but Arago stopped him from taking the other and permanently blinding himself. He'd lay alone on the floor of the armory for hours until he had the strength to move again. Arago had healed over the dead eye, but didn't give any sympathy or help otherwise. He wanted his samurai fit for battle, anything else was unnecessary.

Rajura eventually, after several many months, learned to control his power and stopped the visions himself.

Then Naaza had shown up and part of the emptiness in Rajura's mind filled. He'd loved Naaza even back then, simply grateful that someone now understood him. The sad, hate-filled Naaz seemed beautiful to Rajura. In truth, probably anyone would have seemed beautiful after spending so much time alone. Naaza was exotic and exciting looking with his olive skin and bright green hair. Even his fingernails were naturally green, matching his eyelids, always drooping halfway closed over large, wide eyes.

Naaza suffered from his own poison, growing sicker with each day, then healing, only to get sick again. His body leaked venom, oozing from his skin in a thin layer of slime. It became awkward to share the communal bath just in case he'd leaked some deadly acid into the water without realizing it. Naaza had not been frightened, though. He had come to the Youja-Kai without fear and walking proudly, not being dragged as Rajura had.

"This is my fate, why run?" He had replied when Rajura asked him about it. Naaza accepted life as it came, calmly as his beloved serpents did. He'd never told Rajura his true name, the one he'd had before Arago renamed him Naaza. Never told Rajura why he came to serve Arago, either.

Next came Anubisu, not only linking minds with Rajura and Naaza, but also stealing Rajura's heart, in the process. How could Rajura, master of deceit, lies, and illusions, how could he not love the simple, honest Anubisu? Brilliant blue hair, like blue sky fire, and the low, gravely voice. Anubisu, who was so violent, loved fighting more than anything, and was so gentle when they'd first made love.

Anubisu thought nothing of finer luxuries and spent his time running with the animals of the Youja-Kai. He'd go to the Ningen-Sekai to play with wolves and return exhausted, but happy with his simple play. Talking to the animals, however, was not the power of his yoroi. That seemed to be entirely natural.

Anubisu's power was that of shadows and the cold. Anubisu suffered from the cold, constantly freezing and unable to find warmth even if he were to sit in fire. He'd tried that once and burned himself horribly, but still said he couldn't get warm. It even got to the point where he couldn't touch Rajura or Naaza for fear of hurting them. His touch was enough to turn their skin almost black with the burning, unbearable cold. He, too, learned to control himself after a while.

Lastly, Sh'ten, the cruel, beautiful child had come to them. His arrival had finished their cycle and tying them all together in the circle that could never be broken. His cruelty was blunted by passion and gentle touches. He would never hurt them, not really anyway. He loved them. "But," He'd told them. "Pain can be sometimes be nice. One of these nights, I'll show you how nice pain can be." Sh'ten had promised with his soft, silken voice. Sh'ten ran a finger down Naaza's face. "You'll like if when I give you pain. Such sweet pain."

Sh'ten didn't suffer from his power, he enjoyed it immensely. Sh'ten had the power to cause fear in others. A sadist by nature, Sh'ten enjoyed every minute of fear he could make others feel, though it was more often than not he who would comfort his brothers if they screaming from nightmares he'd unintentionally caused, sitting with them until they fell back to sleep. It was Sh'ten who would vanish for days if his presence was becoming too much for his brothers to handle. Sh'ten was strangely compassionate for a man who loved watching others suffer. He loved his brothers too much to think of his own pleasures instead of theirs. He had been born Kouma Toshidada.

End Flashback-

Rajura shook his head to get his mind where it should be. Each time another yoroi bearer had joined them, it had been easier because the new one had the older ones to lean the time he'd first called his yoroi. Rajura believed that it was the presence of other yoroi bearers that made it easier for them. This was part of the reason that he'd volunteered himself to go for Kongo. He had a strange mothering instinct that pushed him to care for his brothers and make sure they never felt the pain he'd been in.

Rajura and Naaza focused their power and, while Rajura's illusion hid them from the curious eyes of the mortals, both samurai vanished.

Sh'ten-

Sh'ten and Anubisu watched, able to see through Rajura's illusion, while their two friends seemed to turn into balls of light and flew out into outer space. Anubisu blinked. "What's Kongo doing in space?"

"How should I know? So, where's Yaku-chan?"

Anubisu stopped and stared at Sh'ten. "Who?"

Sh'ten gave him an irritated look. "Are you going deaf? I asked where Byakuen was."

"No, you didn't. You said, where's Yaku-chan?"

"What? I did not."

"Yes, you did. You called Byakuen, Yaku-chan. Where did you get that kind of silly nickname for him?"

Sh'ten blinked and realized that Anubisu was right. He hadn't meant to call Byakuen Yaku-chan, and didn't even realize it until Anubisu had pointed it out, it had just sort of come out. "I don't know. I must have heard it somewhere." But, as he thought about it, Sh'ten had a fuzzy memory forming in his mind.

A young boy's voice happily calling, "Yaku-chan! Come play with me, Yaku-chan!" A young boy with long black hair and...the memory faded away.

"What's wrong?" Anubisu touched Sh'ten's arm.

"I think I'm remembering the children. One of them, anyway."

Colony A0206 (several hours before the attack by OZ)-  
Rajura-

"I'm Xiulei Fan. Call my Xiu." The young man introduced himself, reaching out to shake Rajura's hand. They'd found him easily enough, moping in a field of small field of white flowers. Rajura and Naaza had wasted no time in introducing themselves to the young man. A spark of energy jolted them both as they touched and Xiu jerked away, shocked at the mild pain. He knew it couldn't have been anything so mundane as static electricity and rubbed his hand to relieve the pain.

Rajura was pleased by the reaction. It proved that this was the one they were looking for, the one whose yoroi would appear in a day or so, most likely. He looked at Xiu, the boy who promised to grow into a very muscular man. "So, you are the one." Rajura said with a touch of satisfaction that he'd found Kongo so quickly.

"The one what?" Xiu turned away, pulling his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around his legs, distinctly uncomfortable with the conversation all of a sudden and still confused.

Rajura crouched beside the boy, looking at him intently, but not wanting to scare him, yet. Rajura knew that Naaza would let him handle this, let him get the boy's confidence and trust. It was quite obvious that Xiu was already bonded with the four others, though none of them had been claimed by their yoroi and that Xiu had block himself from them, for some reason. "It didn't feel quite right, did it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Xiu was trying to keep it all a secret, confused and frightened by the strange bond as Rajura had been before Naaza had come along. Foolish, really, but Xiu had no idea that Rajura understood everything he was going through. How long before Xiu became overwhelmed by the power of Kongo? How long before Xiu began hurting the ones he loved before he could control the power? Xiu and the four others he was bonded to were all children. None of them understood what was going on, they certainly weren't going to be able to survive this if they didn't have help.

"I'm talking about the feeling you got when we touched, the jolt of power. It doesn't feel like it does when you're with the others, does it." Even Rajura didn't fully understand the yoroi and the bond it created with the other bearers.

Sh'ten, the scholar of their family, had once discovered that the nine yoroi's were part of a greater whole, but were also separate. The four of them who already bore yoroi were seasonals, while the other five were...something different. None of them had yet figured out what these five new children were destined to be or what powers they would develop so Rajura was working blind on how to help Xiu.

Xiu stopped and slowly turned to face Rajura, his face suspicious. "How do you know about all that?"

Rajura held out one hand and conjured his orb, seemingly from nowhere. In truth, it was always there, he just liked to hide it so no one would steal it. He held out the icy gray orb for Xiu to look at.

Xiu's eyes widened and he leaned closer.

"The touch didn't feel right because you have not yet been claimed by your yoroi. Once you do, you will be one of us."

Xiu frowned. "Yoroi? One of you? I still don't know what you're talking about. Do you know about they guys back on Earth?"

Rajura smiled a little, ignoring Naaza's alarmed look when Xiu had said, guys back on Earth. "You mean you haven't seen your yoroi?"

WHAT'S HE TALKING ABOUT? WHERE ARE WE IF WE AREN'T ON EARTH? Naaza asked.

"Well, I've been having weird dreams about orange armor." Xiu admitted, still uncertain. "But...look, I don't want to get involved in all this, I've got things to think about." He waved them away and Rajura couldn't have been more shocked.

"You don't want to get involved in power?" He said softly. "You don't want to get involved in being able to do anything you please? Be reasonable, Xiu. Whatever is going on can't be all that important."

Xiu glared at them, starting to get angry. "What do you know about it? Buzz off!" Xiu turned back to the field, stomping away.

"It's about your lover, isn't it?" Rajura asked knowingly with a smile. How amusing! The boy was willing to pass up such amazing power because he was having a lover's quarrel.

"I don't have a lover, you freak!" Xiu snapped. "Leave me alone!"

"What's going on here?" All three of them turned to the unexpected voice. Rajura frowned at the interruption by the lithe black haired boy who wore glasses perched on his nose. Naaza let out a soft hiss, his hatred for humans surfacing at the sight of the pretty boy.

Xiu, however, smiled, relieved to see the newcomer. "Wufei! I'm glad you're here."

The boy, Wufei, kept his eyes on Rajura and Naaza, but he started walking toward Xiu. "Kwan said you wanted to see me. I didn't expect to find you out here and certainly not with strangers. Who are they?"

Xiu opened his mouth to say something, but was stopped by the rush of power coming from Rajura. Rajura held up the gray orb that was still in his hand and summoned the yoroi, letting it fall into place around him. Xiu and Wufei stared, but as quickly as he could, Rajura shouted "Tochimou! (Web of Deception!)", aiming his most effective attack at Wufei. Naturally, no human was fast enough to dodge the webs of his attack and Wufei as was trapped, frozen in the webs, unable to see or hear anything that was going on around him. Rajura usually used this attack just to bind his enemies, but occasionally, it was better to confuse them.

Xiu was furious. "What did you do? Let my cousin go!" He charged Rajura, but Naaza stepped in and grabbed Xiu around the chest, holding him tightly. While he thrashed against an older, more experience Naaza, who was used to doing this sort of thing, Rajura tried to explain.

"Mortals can't know about us. If the mortals know too much before we are ready, our plans might not work."

"What are you talking about?" Xiu strained against Naaza, desperately trying to get to his cousin.

"Wufei wouldn't hurt a fly! He didn't do anything to you, just let him go!"

Rajura didn't like Xiu's face twisted in almost hate when he looked at Rajura, but there was no other choice. "I won't kill him, if that's what you're afraid of." He reassured Xiu. "There are far easier solutions with my power." He went to the frozen boy, his eyes still open as if frozen in Anubisu' ice. Rajura ran a hand over Wufei's face, sticky with the tiny tendrils of web that covered him head to foot. "When he wakes, he won't remember any of this. He will not remember having seen either Naaza or myself. If you tell him what we were talking about before he arrived," Rajura turned to look at Xiu, still locked in Naaza's powerful arms. "We will be forced to kill him"

Xiu's mouth fell open in disbelief and he stopped struggling. "Why?"

"Because he's human. He isn't one of us and therefore he can't be trusted." Rajura motioned for Naaza to step away from Xiu before telling him, "I advise you to compose yourself before I wake him. You don't want your cousin to see you upset over nothing, do you?"

Xiu glared at Rajura, but turned to sit down as he had been before. Rajura looked at Naaza, causing his friend to disappear, before he vanished himself and with him, his power, freeing Wufei from its influence. At a distance, Rajura watched Wufei blink and then go to Xiu as if nothing had happened.

"Was that wise?" Naaza asked from Rajura's side, hidden by Rajura's illusion. "Xiu will not wish to be with us if he thinks we are threatening his family, surely."

Rajura raised one elegant eyebrow. "What else could I do? We can't let everyone know about us until we are at our full power. I won't hurt Wufei unless Xiu slips up. Even then, we'll just keep it secret from the boy. He doesn't have to know if we kill his cousin or not."

"We need his trust if he's going to fight with us." Naaza reminded him. "What if he ends up siding with Arago just because he's angry with you?"

Rajura shook his head. No, he didn't believe Xiu would ever side with evil like Arago. He might hate Rajura till the end of time, but he wouldn't help Arago destroy everything. The boy was just too good. "We'll wait for Kongo to show up and show Xiu what power is. When he has a taste of it himself, I'm sure he'll understand what we're talking about. He'll be more than willing to join us."

Unfortunately, it came too soon. Too soon and even more violently than Rajura or Naaza had expected, in a hail of fire from the sky and metal monsters Rajura had seen in long ago visions.  
Now, shortly after the attack had ended, they followed Xiu to a destroyed place and watched as he dug in the rubble. Suddenly, he raised his face upward calling Kongo to him. They felt the numbing shock when the yoroi seized the boy for the first time, giving him the strength and power he needed to find the children he was searching for. They watched him dig out lifeless bodies of several small children.

Even Naaza was moved to pity for the crying boy, holding a young girl. He set her down, and went back to dig again. Xiu, in full yoroi, ended up holding a little baby with the row of small bodies lined up in front of him, the lives he couldn't save.

It was Rajura who went to Xiu first to soothe his tortured spirit. "Shhh. Everything will be all right." Rajura knelt behind Xiu and put his hands on the boy's armored shoulders.

Xiu bent lower, as if he were trying to escape the comforting words and gentle hands, but Rajura refused to let him go so easily. Rajura held on tighter and knew that if Xiu really wanted to get away, Kongo easily had enough strength to throw Rajura off. Still, Xiu cried.

"Try to pull your yoroi into your heart." Rajura advised softly, whispering into Xiu's ear, sweetly convincing.

"What?" Xiu managed to choke out.

"If you try to pull it back, the yoroi will change back into the orb."

Xiu shook his head. "I won't be weak again. I won't let anything hurt Lai!" The baby was nearly imprisoned in his arms.

"Will you cause your friends to suffer your pain?"

Xiu slowly looked over his shoulder at Rajura's compassionate face, his eyes, still filled with tears, clearly showing he didn't understand. "Huh?"

"Your mind opened to them when the yoroi took you and the others are feeling not only your pain, but they feel it echoed through each other. As we speak, they are screaming in agony from the magnified pain. I can stop the pain for them. I can let them rest peacefully."

Xiu leaned back, his sobs softening into just letting the tears run unchecked down his face, against Rajura and closed his eyes. He wasn't exactly trusting, but just tired and didn't want to cause his friends pain. The yoroi faded away and Xiu let himself sat where he was, to exhaust to move, leaning against Rajura's chest.

WON'T ANUBISU GET JEALOUS? Naaza asked, moving in closer to them. He sat on the other side of Xiu, just watching patiently as ever.

Rajura stroked Xiu's sweat wet hair out of his face. THE BOY ISN'T THINKING ANYTHING SEXUAL, NAAZA. HONESTLY, YOU REALLY ARE AS BAD AS THE OTHERS ARE, ALWAYS THINING WITH THAT THING BETWEEN YOUR LEGS! HE JUST NEEDS A FRIENDLY SHOULDER TO CRY ON.

WHAT ABOUT LATER? WILL YOU STILL BE THAT FRIENDLY SHOULDER? Naaza looked down at the children's bodies and remembered all the innocents he'd killed over the years. One in particular stood out. A man who had grown too well-liked, too dangerous, had come to the attention of Emperor Arago and Naaza was ordered to kill the man. Nothing out of the ordinary, back then they'd always been killing one threat or another. It ended up a nightmare. The man had fallen ill before Naaza had reached him and his pregnant wife had stood between Naaza and his target, desperately hoping to protect him. Naaza had had no choice but to kill the woman before killing her husband. He didn't know until later that she'd been only several months pregnant and he had killed the baby, too.

STOP IT. Rajura snapped at him. I CAN ONLY DEAL WITH ONE MENTAL INVALID AT A TIME AND IT'S NOT YOUR TURN. Then in a softer tone and a light brush against Naaza's mind. DON'T THINK ABOUT IT, IT WAS A LONG TIME AGO. "Let me block the link you share with them for their sake and yours." Rajura told Xiu.

Xiu nodded, not seeming to care. Naaza reach out for the baby, but Xiu glared at him and held Lai tighter. "Don't touch her."

Naaza's tongue flickered out, showing how long and inhuman it was. "Trust us." Naaza hissed.  
Xiu gave a choked laugh. "You threatened to kill my cousin and you want me trust you? You want me to just hand over Lai?"

"We will only kill him if you tell him about us, his life is in your hands. Rajura needs to do something to you and you might be unprepared for the feeling and drop the baby. I am a samurai and there is no honor in killing children. I will not hurt her." Naaza told him in a surprisingly gentle tone.

Xiu was, it must be understood, in a very fragile frame of mind. He let Naaza take Lai and he let Rajura pull him down so Xiu's head was in Rajura's lap. This, also, was a very vulnerable position and Xiu wasn't sure he liked it.

Rajura was looking down at Xiu's face, the pulsating symbol of Justice on his forehead, slightly hidden by curly, dark hair. Rajura leaned down and Xiu was starting to look nervous as Rajura drew closer, looking very much like he was going to kiss Xiu. To be honest, Rajura had rather been thinking about it.

KISS HIM AND I'LL SHAVE YOU BALD! Anubisu's voice shouted over their link, furiously, reminding Rajura that he wasn't alone in his thoughts. YOU'RE MINE! Anubisu declared.

I LOVE IT WHEN YOU GET ALL POSSESSIVE. NOW, BE QUIET AND LET ME SAVE HIM. Rajura gently touched his forehead to Xiu's and he felt their power touch briefly before he put a damper on Xiu's link with the four others.

Xiu lay like that, breathing heavily, the touch of their powers did have an effect on him and he was glad he'd let Naaza hold Lai. He was now sure he'd have dropped her. "How do you feel?" Rajura asked.

"Like mud." His family was all around him in pools of blood, how was he supposed to feel?

"Good. That means you'll be fine. If you'd said you were fine, I'd be worried. I'll take off the block to your link later." Rajura helped Xiu to sit up and steadied him with his hands.

Naaza gave Lai back to Xiu, safe and sound, and Xiu held her tightly against his chest. "Someone is coming." Naaza said. "We'll go now."

Rajura stood with Naaza. "We'll come back for you. You belong with us, now."

Xiu-

Xiu looked down at Lai and knew that the two strange guys had vanished as quickly as they'd come. Wufei and mama were yelling for him and Xiu didn't want to look up. Now, without the distraction of the strangers who seemed to know him so well, Xiu had nothing to look at but the children and think about what was going to happen. All he could think of was how quiet house was going to be. So very quiet.

Xiu started to cry again.

Ningen-Sekai-  
Sh'ten-

They walked in silence for a while until Anubisu stopped and closed his eyes, turning his head to one side, as if concentrating. "He's close." Anubisu said, his bond with animals coming through clear and strong. Anubisu had pretty much raised both Byakuen and Kokuen-Oh by himself, so his bond with them was stronger than with any other animal. Anubisu opened his eyes and turned very slowly to look into one of the dark alleys. He took a step and then another. "I think..." he got no further as a boy, moving fast as lightening, shot out of the alley and leeched himself onto Sh'ten.

"Mama!"

Sh'ten looked down at the boy, shocked, his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide. The boy was exactly the same as in Naaza's painting, the long brown braid and wide, not-so-innocent eyes. He was hugging Sh'ten, the ma-sho of cruelty and the general of the Ma-Sho tightly and fearlessly. With a smile, the boy rubbed his cheek against Sh'ten's shoulder and Sh'ten noticed that the boy was completely naked.

"Oh, mama, I've missed you all so much! I want to go home. Is Ryou all right? What was that fucking demon thing? I made a new friend and I want to take him with us. He stole my clothes and tried to kill me, but he's nice enough. Well, he didn't really steal my clothes, I gave them to him, but he tried real hard to steal them. I was so scared, being out here alone and I found the orphanage and everyone was killed, so I have to go get revenge for them. Heero? Come out here. I want you to meet mama Sh'ten and Naaza, my oniisan's." The boy said this all in one breath, turned back to the alley to call out to his friend and then, jumped from Sh'ten and on to Anubisu. "I missed you, too, oniisan. I don't know what happened after you all took Ryou to meet this guy said he had to meet, but I woke up and Ryou was making fire all over the place and I was so scared! Ryou looked like he lost his mind, but I guess I can understand that 'cause that demon thing was pretty damned scary and then there was a hole under us..."

Sh'ten and Anubisu exchanged a confused look and then went back to staring at Duo who was still prattling on about something. Sh'ten blinked. This was one of their missing children?

Anubisu looked away from the boy clutching him when Byakuen walked out of the shadows and sat on his haunches, looking extremely proud of himself. "So, this is who you were looking for." Anubisu said to the tiger. Byakuen merely licked his paw to clean a bit of his fur.

Behind Byakuen, wearing a dirty, worn kimono that was too big for him, was another boy, this one with short brown hair who had the look of a fighter to him. He watched both Sh'ten and Anubisu warily, looking ready to jump into fight or turn tail and run at the least little sign of danger.

WHO'S THIS KID? Sh'ten as they both looked at Heero's rock hard expression.

But Anubisu knew him. "Heero, right?" Anubisu stepped forward, still unable to extract himself from the braided boy. "I seem to remember coming here and meeting you when I was looking for..." His voice trailed away. What was he doing here? Yes, he was looking for someone and Heero... "You're the boy I was supposed to train by that doctor J character and..." He stopped talking again. "I just can't remember."

"Anubisu." Sh'ten tapped Anubisu's shoulder.

"What?"

"You're babbling. Stop it."

Heero spoke up. "I was walking Kay to find a police officer when you came out of nowhere with two large tigers and took her back to her home. She said that you were her brother and that she was looking for her brothers, Duo and Ryo. She also told me that you all lived in the Youja-Kai with demons and spirits."

Sh'ten and Anubisu blinked at the boy who seemed to know all the answers to the questions they'd been looking for. "How do you know this, boy?" Sh'ten asked cautiously.

The boy just stared silently at them.

So, he was unwilling to give up his secrets. Probably wise of him. Well, they would just have to keep him around until the mystery is solved.

Noin-

Noin had made sure that Seiji and Ryou were dressed respectably for the party (damned if she was going to let anyone laugh at her family!) She had taken them both out earlier and bought them both nice suits, complete with silk tied and polished leather shoes.

Even as she walked down the walkway towards Trieze's manor house, Noin couldn't help but think that the other young woman were all envious of her good looking escorts. Seiji's polish and Ryou's half-hidden wild side were enough to catch the interest of anyone. Seiji seemed calm and collected walking on her left, but Ryou shifted uncomfortably.

"Is something wrong?" Noin asked quietly.

Ryou jumped, startled when she elbowed him. Then he managed a sheepish smile. "I've never been real good in crowds." He cast a look through the open doors where hundreds of well-dressed folk could be seen and heard. "This is a little bigger party than I thought it would be."

Noin patted his shoulder comfortingly. "Trieze doesn't like the words small or understated." When she said this, Noin noticed something odd, for the first time, though by now she thought she should be used to odd where her brother and Ryou were concerned. Ryou had, around his neck, a gold chain with a small glass ball with a faintly red cast to it. "What's that, Ryou?"

Ryou, instead of answering right away, looked over her head at Seiji and Noin turned just in time to see Seiji shake his head as if to tell Ryou, no. Noin then saw that Seiji was wearing a similar gold chain, but this one held a glass ball with a green cast. "Hey, you have one, too!" Noin pointed at it and Seiji just shrugged.

"It's nothing."

But Noin's mind had gotten hold of an idea and didn't want to let go. "Are they sweet-heart necklaces?" She asked teasingly.

Ryou blushed and Seiji turned his head away from her, masking his face with his hair, but neither boy said anything and that as good as confirmed it for Noin. Inside she squealed with delight at the cuteness of it all. Matching sweetheart necklaces! How adorable, and they'd only known each other for about a week!

Noin took both their arms in hers and just smiled, not caring about Ryou's or Seiji's puzzled looks.

Seiji-

Seiji shook his head at Ryou to let him know that they shouldn't tell Luc about the orbs, right then, and Ryou thankfully got the message. Noin, for some reason, got the idea that they were wearing something called sweetheart necklaces, but Seiji wasn't sure what those were, so he didn't correct her.

Seiji didn't want Luck to know about the strange connection he had with the other boys. He thought the five of them needed to meet first, at least to introduce Ryou to the others and figure out what was going on.

One of the others, Seiji thought his name was Xiu, was unhappy. Seiji almost wished the bond they had was stronger and that they could actually share thoughts and talk to each other through it, but as it was, they could only share emotions. Xiu had put a wall around his mind, nearly closing himself off from the rest of them, but he wouldn't have done something like that unless something horrible had happened.

Ryou stood close to Seiji in the grand hall where Luc's co-workers and friends were. Seiji saw Zechs, some distance away, looking quite uncomfortable as he leaned against a wall with his arms crossed over his chest and slightly looking down. He was, as usual when he was in public, wearing the metal mask Seiji had seen him wearing the first time they'd met, but Seji still wasn't sure why he wore it. He wasn't ugly, nor was he wanted for any crimes that Seiji knew about, so why would he hide himself?

"Seiji!"

Seiji felt the happiness before he heard the familiar voice call his name. Seiji saw, standing somewhat near Trieze, Shin and Touma. Touma spared Seiji a smile and a soft touch against the wall in front of his mind. Apparently they'd decided that if they couldn't touch Seiji's mind, they would all settle for the wall. The touch was friendly and casual, but worried about something. Then Touma went back to talking with some man dressed very extravagantly.

It was Shin who was waving wildly to get Seiji's attention, beckoning him over to them. Seiji nodded and took Ryou's arm, to lead him over. "I want you to meet some people."

"Friends?" Luc asked, looking over at Shin who was still waving madly.

Seiji nodded. "I met them a few days ago." Seiji had discovered, contrary to doctor J's enforced training, that Luc preferred it if he spoke occasionally. She wandered away toward Zechs.

"Those are the others?" Ryou asked, letting Seiji pull him toward them. Seiji didn't feel the need to answer as he felt Ryou reach out to them and they responded with light touching of their minds.  
Shin's hand fell when he saw Ryou and, apparently, realized that Ryou was the missing one, the one Shin hadn't met before. Shin's eyes widened and he nudged Touma who turned and had a similar reaction to seeing Ryou. The man he'd been speaking to was quickly forgotten.

Ryou moved closer to Seiji and whispered. "Do you think they'll like me?"

"I can't think why not. You're very likable."

When they reached Shin and touma, Shin impulsively grabbed Seiji in a hug. "Thank you for saving my life! I was hoping to find you again! You didn't even stop to say hello!" This last was said a bit accusingly.

Seiji withstood Shin's hug and talking, but found it odd. Up until then, Ryou was the only one Seiji had let touch him. Then Shin looked at Ryou. "I know you, don't I?"

Touma looked at Ryou closely. "Me, too. You're one of us, aren't you?"

"I'm Sanada Ryou."

Introductions were made all around, but Ryou asked. "Someone's still missing. I could feel him yesterday, but then he closed himself off. Where is he?"

"That would be Xiu." Touma answered with a slightly guilty look that made Seiji wondered what Touma could have done to Xiu that would make him feel guilty. "We...kind of surprised him the other day."

"What happened?" Ryou asked.

Touma and Shin suddenly didn't want to look at each other, but Shin whispered. "We hurt him. Bad." Ryou and Seiji exchanged looks. "Physically?" Seiji asked. If it were merely physical then he could probably fix it.

Touma shook his head. "No, we...huh...well, Shin and I kinda really like each other." He said this very quietly as if afraid that someone might hear, though he clutched at Shin's hand almost automatically. "And we know that Xiu liked us and he sort of caught us kissing. I think it really hurt him." Touma looked like he was desperately trying not to cry.

"So he blocked us out, just like you do, Seiji." Shin added. "I'm not sure how, but he managed it." Shin sniffled. "He must really be angry at us."

Ryou had no idea what to say and Seiji was at a loss. Personal relationships were not Seiji's strong point. Look at how he and Heero had turned out, after all.

Trieze-

Trieze searched the room with his eyes and was satisfied with what he saw. The two boys he'd invited, Touma and Shin, were trying to mingle, though Touma didn't seem exactly comfortable. They seemed more comfortable now that they were talking with Noin's little brother and his friend, Ryou, though.

"Since when do you invite children to these parties?"

Trieze smiled at the voice, pleased that she'd actually showed up for the party. Usually, she would find some excuse as to why she had to be away from the house at that particular time or she'd just disappear. "You're hardly older than they are." Trieze reminded the long haired girl who stood next to him.

"I'm not planning to work for a scoundrel like you, either."

Choosing to ignore the scoundrel remark, mainly because he knew it was true, Trieze asked, "Are you having fun?" Trieze finally turned to look at his sister and his breath was nearly taken away. "You look very nice tonight."

Nice was a vast understatement. Her long auburn hair was curled and styled into braids and loops, a very unusual, though not unbecoming, look. She was dressed in a long, dark red, silk red dress that only came over one shoulder leaving the other one bare. He'd never seen her like this, so dressed up or so utterly beautiful. Trieze took a careful look around the room, noticing all the young men who were staring at his sister. No one had better try anything disrespectful with HIS baby sister or else.

"You can thank Zechs-kun, I had very little to do about all this." She replied through a strained smile as she gestured down at herself, obviously uncomfortable. "He's better at this sort of thing than I am and he did my hair for me."

"Is something wrong, Nasty?" Trieze asked, worried about her incredibly fake smile.

Nasutei answered, turning that hard smile on him again. "If I have to smile at one more of these puffed up pansies again, I'm going to scream. All I've heard all night is their glorious war stories and how much money their daddies make. I swear half the people here must share an IQ, not to mention the total lack of personalities in the room."

Trieze laughed, "You're just saying that because you're bored." It didn't help that Nasty was near genius level and she was often bored unless her nose was buried in a book. All Trieze wanted was for her to meet a few real people now and again, and for people to realize how incredibly wonderful she was.

Nasty seemed to get more irritated. "I mean it, Trieze! I just knew I should have gone to the library tonight! But no, I had to let you and Zechs-Kun talk me into this nonsense. I honestly don't know why you want me here, you know I don't fit in with these people."

"It's expected that I have my sister at my little get-togethers, especially since we live together. The problem is you're talking to the few dignitaries and officials I had to invite for politics sake. Stick to my OZ troops, you'll find them a more interesting class of people. Besides," Trieze winked at her teasingly. "Maybe you'll meet someone here."

Nasty groaned. "Please, stop trying to fix me up with someone. If it's going to happen, it'll happen on it's own. Besides, I'm going back to live with grandfather in a week, so even if I do meet anyone here, it'll difficult at best to keep up any kind of a relationship."

"Exactly my point. You're moving out into the middle of the nowhere, so you'll never meet anyone if I don't help."

Nasty crossed her arms over her chest. "Look, pal, before you start in on my love life..."

"Or lack thereof." Trieze added softly.

Nasty glared. "Don't make me hurt you. As I was saying, you should worry about your own. Poor Zechs-kun has been staring at you all night, and you know it. That sweet guy has had that puppy dog look on his face since you were both twelve and you've been making him suffer since the day you met him."

"That's half the fun."

Nasty scowled at him. "You're a very bad man, Trieze."

"Thank you." He said with a bow.

"I'm serious." Nasty took him by the arm and gave him a little shake. "If you don't do something soon, he's likely to pine away for you before he runs away in the arms of someone else."

That got Trieze's attention and his eyes narrowed. "Someone else?"

"Yes. You know, someone who'll show him the love and attention he wants and deserves."

Trieze got sudden, horrible visions of what he would do to anyone who tried to steal Zechs' heart. "No one would dare touch my Zechs."

"He doesn't even know he's yours!" Nasty reminded him forcefully. "You have to tell him or no one will have to steal him, he'll give himself away." Nasty cast a look at Zechs, still leaning against a wall in a shadow with a short, dark haired girl at his side, whispering to him. "He's the best thing that's ever happened to you. Do you really want to lose him to someone like that girl?"

Trieze looked over her shoulder at the girl indicated, and almost smiled. "That's Noin and she's not a threat, trust me."

Nasty slapped his arm lightly. "I KNOW who she is! We've been friends for a while now, I'm just making a point."

Trieze shook his head, not wanting to think such serious things tonight, and gave a lighthearted smile. "I'm just waiting to see how long he can hold out before he jumps me." The truth was, Trieze wanted very badly to be seduced, for once, instead of being the one to start things.

"You're awful!" Nasty slapped his arm, not so gently. Nasty was very protective of her gentle-natured friend.

"True." Trieze agreed and then moved quickly to another, more comfortable subject. "So, getting back to your love life, see anyone who interests you?"

"No. Now, let me escape. I've made my appearance and I want to get back to some research I was working on."

Trieze rolled his eyes and took her arm, leading her into the crowded ballroom. "You can't leave my party to read. You'll insult me."

"Consider yourself insulted, oniisan." Nasty turned walking away, after a parting kiss on Trieze's cheek, to find someplace where she couldget some peace and quiet.

Before Trieze could stop her, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Trieze turned to see Zechs. "Can I have a word with you?"

Trieze nodded and followed when Zechs motioned him to one of the side halls that was mainly for the stairway that led upstairs. Zechs closed the door behind them, locking out the noise from the party. "What is it?" Trieze asked. He turned to Zechs just in time to have Zechs push him up against a wall and seize his mouth in a greedy kiss.

Trieze thought to himself, letting Zechs run his tongue over Trieze's teeth, Finally! Trieze closed his eyes and let Zechs take complete control. Zechs lowering them both until Trieze was sitting on the stairs and Zechs was kneeling on either side of Trieze's legs.

The kiss broke only when they were forced to come up for air. Zechs had his arms around Trieze's neck and Trieze reached up to pull Zechs' helmet off, revealing the beautiful ivory skin and nearly white hair.

"Did I surprise you?" Zechs asked, almost whispering, his voice shaking. Trieze knew it must have been hard for his reserved friend to come up with the courage to do this, and right in the middle of a party, too.

_I'll bet Noin talked him into this!_ Trieze thought gleefully, making a mental note to send Noin a bouquet of roses as thanks. Trieze ran his fingers through Zechs' fine hair. "Very surprised."

"Oh, good." Zechs leaned in again, pushing Trieze onto his back, kissing him against and Trieze tugged at Zechs' shirt. He'd been waiting for so long, he didn't want to wait any longer.

It was at that point that Lieutenant Une, Trieze's personal bodyguard, walked in. She was dressed in a formal evening gown, so as to not attract attention, but obviously on duty. She saluted Trieze, a good enough officer that she pretending to ignore the fact that she'd just caught Trieze and Zechs in a rather, well, delicate situation. "Sir, we have a couple of problems."

"Yes?" Trieze didn't get up, but he did pay attention to her. Lieutenant Une might be just a tad insane, but she was very good at her job and if she thought there was something Trieze should know about, he was more than willing to listen.

"The smaller problem, sir, this that apparently you have just tried to massacre colony A0206." Normally, Une's voice was cool and precise, refusing to get emotionally involved in her job, but even she sounded furious.

"What?" Trieze jumped up and away from Zechs, also stunned by the news, and glared at Une. His face was twisted with disbelief and fury as he protested violently. "I did no such thing!"

"Yes, sir, I know that. However, the orders were signed by you."

"I read everything I sign and I would not have signed a paper like that!" Fighting trained soldiers was one thing, but he was certainly above killing a colony full of women and children.

"Yes, sir. I expect that it was a forgery. We will have to do some investigating to find out who did it, though."

Trieze rubbed his forehead. Now his name would be forever attached to the horrible crime. Even if they did find out who was truly responsible, he would never be believed. Trieze knew his own reputation well enough to know that everyone would believe he was trying to cover his own tail and using someone else as a scapegoat.

"Were there any survivors?" He asked, sitting down next to Zechs. Unfortunately, the mood had been completely shattered.

"Yes, it seems that the attack was foiled by a new mobile suit, some claim that it was a Gundam, but we have no concrete evidence, yet."

Trieze remained quite for a moment. "What's the other problem?"

Une took a deep breath. "Quatre Winner is here."

Trieze rolled his eyes. "Oh, hell." Trieze started to pace. Though the Winner boy looked and often acted like a sweet little rabbit, Trieze knew better. He'd met the boy on a series of social and political occasional and he knew the boy was far more of a threat than he looked. Quatre was the type of person who tried very hard to be a good, gentle person, but every now and again their true nature showed itself and people would suffer. The boy was also quite smart and, reputedly had a band of rather large mercenaries working for him. "What does he want?"

"He says his brother is here and he wants him back."

Trieze frowned, puzzled. "Brother? He hasn't got a brother."

Une shrugged. "He's not causing a scene, but Mr. Winner is definitely not happy. I would get him out of here as soon as possible, if I were you. Did you invite anyone out of the ordinary?"

Trieze immediately thought of Touma and Shin. Then there was Seiji, but no, Noin would have told them if she was related to the Winner family. Ryou was a possibility, but it didn't seem likely. He had done thorough background checks on all of him employees, so he knew it wasn't any of them, leaving only the boys. He nodded once at Une and the two of them left in search of the four in question, Trieze hoping not to run into the young man until he'd found out which boy was Quatre's brother.

Zechs-

Zechs sat on the stairs alone and forgotten. He blinked after them, even after the door closed behind them. A small whine of frustration came from his throat before Zechs turned on the stairs and started pounding with both fists. "Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! I was so close! So bloody close!" He wailed. Now, he was sure he'd never get the courage up to do that again.

Noin-

Noin had bullied Zechs into doing it, of course. They had watched while Zechs and his sister chatted, a slight argument about something and Noin whispered. "Do it. Do it, now."

Zechs shook his head. "No! Not here, in the middle of a party! There's hundreds of people here."

"So what? Take him into the back hall and ravish him on the stairs. There's a lock on the inside of door, so you won't be disturbed." She grinned at him impishly. "Or, if you'd rather, I can make a few more interesting suggestions."

Even from behind his mask, Noin could tell that he was looking at her suspiciously and curiously. "How"

"Well, for instance, don't you think Trieze would look rather fetching tied, or maybe chained, spread eagle, to that big four-posted bed of his? All naked and gleaming with sweat, looking up at you nervously, his red eyelashes fluttering with apprehension as you stand over him, so powerful. So manly." Noin spoke softly, leaning in so that she was whispering in Zechs' ear. She was trying to be as seductive as possible and, apparently it was working. Zechs was breathing hard and he licked his bottom lip unconsciously. Noin continued, "How does he scream your name, Zechs? Does he call you master?" Zechs whimpered softly, his cheeks under the mask reddening.  
"Are you going to go easy on poor Trieze or will you be just a little bit rough? He's made you wait so long, after all. Maybe he does deserve to be punished a little." Just for added effect, Noin licked Zechs' ear and almost she wished she hadn't. He nearly fainted.

Zechs never took his eyes off Trieze all the time that she was talking and Noin smiled triumphantly. Tonight, she was certain, Zechs would finally get what he's wanted for so long. Trieze wouldn't be too unhappy, either.

Noin gave her friend a little push. "Go get him. He's waiting for you, Zechs."

For the first time, Zechs didn't back down and strode confidently over to Trieze after Trieze's sister, Nasutei, left. They spoke briefly before Zechs did exactly what Noin had suggested and led him back to one of the halls leading into the main house. The door closed behind them and Noin, if she hadn't been a lady, would have jumped with joy and sang hallelujah to the heavens. Life was perfect!

Not thirty seconds later, Trieze's bodyguard and personal assistant, Lieutenant Une, followed them through the doors. She was a beautiful lady looking all dressed up for the party, but her posture and attitude were all business. When she headed straight for where Zechs had just taken Trieze, Noin almost panicked. Then she relaxed, remembering that she'd told Zechs about the lock on the door. Lieutenant Une swung the door open easily and Noin slapped her forehead.

_Zechs, you idiot! You forgot to lock the door!_

A moment later, Trieze walked out of the hall with Lieutenant Une, straightening his rumpled suit and combing his hair with his fingers. His face, Noin noted, was flushed. Well, at least Zechs got somewhere with him!

Before Noin could take a single step to see what had become of Zechs or what had been so urgent that Lady Une had to interrupt a perfectly timed seduction, a piercing, bone-jarring scream broke through the noise of the party. It took Noin a moment to realize that it wasn't one scream, but several all sounding together.

Noin swung her head around, with everyone else, to see who'd let out the ear piercing scream. She instantly searched for her brother and found that it was him who was screaming, along with Ryou, Shin, and Touma. Each boy had their hands to their heads, a brightly glowing kanji symbol on their foreheads and each one wore a small glass ball on a necklace that was glowing just as brightly, and the same color, as the symbol on their foreheads.

"What the Hell?" Noin said out loud as she started pushing her way passed people to get to the boys.

Noin could only watch helplessly as the normally quiet, sedated Seiji had his face raised, his one eye wide open, screaming loud enough to wake the dead. Shin and Ryou were openly crying and Touma was shaking, quickly falling to his knees.

_What's happening to you, Sei-chan?_ Noin thought. _What are those things on your forehead?_ About then she realized the orb necklaces were not sweetheart necklaces, but something vastly different and probably more dangerous.

The guests had gone silent in shock, staring, until Trieze snapped at lieutenant Une, "Get everyone out of here. Take them in the garden if you must." The efficient soldier saluted and obeyed without question. In only seconds, the ballroom was empty except for the four uncontrollably screaming boys, Noin, Zechs (who'd come out bythen and put his mask back on), and Trieze.

"Seiji? What's going on?" Noin asked, but Seiji's porcelain face was still terrified. She tried to hold his face in her hands, but he jerked violently away from her touch.

"Dead! They're all dead!" Seiji said, screaming, looking around as if he could see something that they couldn't. A green light shone from Seiji's forehead, the symbol of courtesy. Seiji fell to his knees near Touma, one hand on the floor to hold himself up.

Shin, through his tears said, "Oh, the children!" Suddenly angry, "They killed the children! My brothers and sisters! Oh, Kwan!" "They attacked! The buildings are crushed and everyone's yelling!" Ryou grabbed onto Seiji, his eyes showing a lot of white. "Someone help me!"

"What are you doing to my brother!"

Trieze-

Trieze groaned when he heard Quatre Winner's furious voice from behind them and he knew they'd been found. Trieze knew it didn't look good. He was in a room with two OZ officers and four young boys who were screaming insanely.

"I have no idea." Trieze answered. "They just started screaming about blood and dead people."

Quatre instantly went to Touma and took his hand. Just like Seiji, Touma flinched away from Quatre's hand, wrapping his arms around himself instead and started rocking back and forth. "Touma, tell me what's wrong?" Quatre asked in a commanding voice, far different than the one he normally used.

Touma focused, bringing himself back to reality somewhat. "An attack. Bodies all over the place. Kwan's all bloody! She's dead! Oh, god, blood all over my hands!" Touma looked down at his hands, perfectly clean, horrified.

"Touma, there's nothing there." Quatre tried to reassure him, in a softer voice. He obviously wanted so much to hold Touma and comfort him, but Touma wouldn't allow it.

Touma shook his head, his eyes still wide. "Yes, there is, I can see it. I can see it!" Slowly, he looked up to meet Quatre's eyes. "Help me, Kitty. Please, help me. I don't want to see it anymore." Touma leaned forward, putting his face against Quatre's shirt, giving into the feelings of grief and helplessness and letting himself cry. "I'm sorry I was so horrible to you, Kitty. I'm sorry I said those awful things, I didn't mean it, I swear. Please, make it stop!"

Quatre, a shocked look on his face, hugged Touma, but even as his bare hand touched Touma's head, Touma jumped away as if stung.

Shin whimpered, "Don't touch us. It hurts, just don't touch us." And Quatre was left to watch helplessly as his brother curled up in a fetal position on the floor and cried to himself.

Anubisu-

"What's going on?" Duo asked, worriedly listening to the screams coming from inside the large house. He was now wearing Sh'ten's long vest, only barely decent, it was at least enough to cover the necessary parts as it fastened down the front.

"They're joined too tightly!" Anubisu said tensely. They listened as the four boys screamed in the pain that their fifth was suffering and the power flowed from them. They all wore their yoroi orbs around their necks like charms on a necklace and they glowed with raw, untrained power.

Heero stood quietly, taking in the surrounding, fingering the gun under the robes Duo had given him.

Duo was wringing his hands. "That's Ryou! I can hear him! What do we do?" He looked at both the older men with such expressions of trust that Sh'ten was taken back by it. How could the child trust someone like him?

"I don't know. It's not supposed to happen like this. We'll have to separate them." Sh'ten decided, watching as the party guests were taken out of the main ballroom. "Duo, stay here with Heero, this might get dangerous."

Duo scowled at him. "I'm not helpless! I want to see Ryou!"

"Very well, but keep out of the way."

"How do we separate them?" Anubisu asked. "We've never had to deal with this sort of thing before." Anubisu had them all cloaked in darkness so no one would see them as they walked through the garden and into the almost empty ballroom.

Sh'ten grumbled. "How should I know?" RAJURA? Sh'ten called out through their link.

YES, I CAN FEEL IT. THERE'S BEEN AN ATTACK HERE AND XIU, THE BEARER OF KONGO, HAS JUST FOUND HIS DEAD LITTLE BROTHERS AND SISTERS. I'LL TRY TO CALM HIM DOWN.

WE'LL TRY TO DO SOMETHING ON THIS END. WE DON'T WANT THEM ALL GOING INSANE.

I RECOGNIZE THE BLACK HAIRED ONE FROM NAAZA'S PAINTING. Anubisu told Sh'ten. HE MUST BE RYOU. It was rather exciting, just as finding Duo had been exciting. New family, and now they'd found all the yoroi in one place. It was a great day.

Duo suddenly saw the black haired boy and opened his mouth. Sh'ten clamped a hand over Duo's mouth to stop him from yelling out and giving their position away. They had to be sure of what was going on before they did anything.

A small blond boy, with a determined pace, walked easily passed the guards keeping everyone out of the ballroom. He used his small size well, to slip by everyone and into the room where the boys had been taken.

In the room was a disturbing sight, at least to Anubisu. The boys were screaming and crying, the mortals around them were trying to calm them unsuccessfully. Sh'ten found the sight of such undisguised pain to be quite...breathtaking. Heero showed no reaction one way or the other until he locked his gaze on one of them and his eyes narrowed. Duo looked like he wanted to kill whatever was doing this to Ryou.

Anubisu let his power go, leaving them in the open for everyone to see. RAJURA, TAKE THE ILLUSION OFF US. I THINK WE SHOULD LOOK PROPERLY IMPRESSIVE. Rajura did what was asked of them, so they were now visible to the surprised military officers and in their full armor with very large, sharp weapons at the ready. Sh'ten's eyes didn't leave the young men, little more than children. Though he personally liked the pain they were in, he knew he had to end it.

After all, the yoroi bound them together more tightly than blood. They were brothers.

A man, wearing a metal mask that hid his face, was the first to see them. "Who are you?" He demanded, moving to step in front of everyone protectively.

"We're not here for you, mortal." Sh'ten sneered. "We've only come for the children." He gestured at the crying boys with his Kusari-Gama.

A woman with very short dark hair stood up, next to the masked man. "I don't think so." She grumbled angrily.

"It's very rude to enter someone's home like that and demand their guests, don't you think?" An auburn haired man stood, dressed like a fop, but with steel, threatening eyes.

Sh'ten's face lit up as he sensed a battle in the air. "Can you stop me?" He asked mockingly.

Continued...


	16. Bleeding

Chapter 16: BLEEDING 

Earth-  
Sh'ten-

Sh'ten held his kusari-gama, his favored weapon, in both hands and swung the sickle end easily as he eyed the mortals eagerly. How nice of them to give him a bit of sport while he was there! Perhaps he might even have to make an effort to kill one or two of them. It was tempting, but he supposed he ought to make an effort to have a peaceful sort of confrontation for the sake of his new brothers, if nothing else.

How pitiful they all looked. While the children no longer screamed in pain, they clearly felt it from their grimacing faces and the soft noises they were obviously trying to hold back. A dark haired young woman stepped forward first and Sh'ten felt a touch of disappointment. Why would the men send a woman in to fight? The modern world was sheer madness!

"You aren't laying a finger on my brother until I know who you are and what you want." She said fiercely, putting a hand to something that was obviously a weapon at her hip.

Ahhh, so that's why they let her take the lead. She is truly a tigress. Even faced with two Ma-Sho's in full yoroi, she was brave. Well then, how about a bit of fear?

Sh'ten released the hold he had on the Fear, his favorite talent, letting it seep away from him and into the air. It was no tangible thing, not visible as Rajura's illusions or as spectacular as Naaza's venom, but the Fear was potent. To turn one's courageous enemies into cowards was a quick way to end a battle. The Fear affected everyone but Sh'ten. Even Anubisu, who knew what Sh'ten was doing it, recoiled slightly.

The dark haired woman looked nervous at first, then her hands started shaking even as she stubbornly refuses to back down. Her eyes widened slightly as she fought her own irrational fear.

Sh'ten had to swallow hard. How beautiful she is with the scent of fear lingering on her! What does she imagine is going on?

"Stop." The soft voice came from the floor, the blond one with the mark of Korin blazing on his forehead. He slowly, painfully stood up. Still under the influence of Kongo's grief as well as the Fear Sh'ten liberally spread around, it was impressive that he could make himself think straight.

_Oh, very, very good._ Sh'ten thought. _He has a strong will._

Korin went to the trembling woman's side, but still couldn't bring himself to touch her. "Don't hurt my sister."

Sister! Sh'ten gave Anubisu a sour look. He hadn't counted on them having family and that was going to make everything more difficult. Not impossible, of course, but difficult. Should have thought about it. Why wouldn't they have family?

"Then come with us, Korin." Sh'ten said smoothly. "I will try to stop the pain you are in. You are honored to be apart of something great, a force that will remake this world into a glorious new era." Korin, and the other boys, really were quite fortunate. How many others would have killed to be in their places? They would be kings in the new world that the Ma-Sho were intending to create. Arago would have to be destroyed first, but once the yoroi are all gathered, it shouldn't be too difficult. "Step away from your life here..."

Sh'ten got no further as the girl, still shaking with fear, moved in front of Korin. "You can't have Seiji! I just got him back!" She shouted, raising some kind of small, mechanical weapon at Sh'ten. A gun, Sh'ten thought it was called. Sh'ten didn't spend enough time in the Ningen-Sekai to understand all the weapons they've invented lately, but the small stone - or whatever it was - that shot out from the weapon bounced harmlessly off his armor.

"So, you want to play, girl?" Sh'ten asked as she shot another projectile at him, also having no effect. Sh'ten raised his kusari-gama, but before he could get rid of her, Korin, Seiji, jumped in front of his sister and pulled out the small sword that was hanging at her side. It was purely ornamental, that was pretty obvious, but the boy raised the small sword in defiance, his furious eyes clearly saying, _Don't even try it!_

Seiji's one eye went passed Sh'ten, however, and narrowed even more at what he saw. Sh'ten turned slightly to see the boy wearing Duo's robes watching Seiji. Heero had one of the stoniest expressions Sh'ten had ever seen, especially on a child, and he was as focused on Seiji as Seiji was on him. It wasn't a hateful look, but cold and unyeilding. There was a tense moment when the two just glare at each other. Then Seiji winced just slightly and a small trickle of blood began seeping out of his ear and rolled down the side of his face.

Rekka, with surprising speed, turned to the two mortal men and took both of their decorative swords, as Seiji had taken the young woman's, holding the swords as if he knew exactly what he was doing. He moved to stand my Seiji's side. "Who the Hell are you?" Rekka growled at Heero, for some reason thinking that Heero was a bigger threat than Sh'ten and not even acknowledging Anubisu. Sh'ten had to admit that he was feeling a bit insulted at this.

Sh'ten would have bet that Rajura would be sorry he wasn't there. This whole situation was becoming wonderfully complicated, just the sort of thing Rajura always enjoyed. Even Sh'ten was getting confused.

Ryou-

Seiji's afraid of this guy. Well, not exactly afraid, but he knew the guy with narrow, dark blue eyes was dangerous. _God, my head hurts! I can still see things that I shouldn't. Like the attack in the sky and falling buildings. The face of some Chinese guy wearing glasses and a fat woman crying. I want to kill someone. I don't know why, but I want to KILL!_

Seiji was trying to concentrate on one of the strangers, the one in a kimono that's too big for him and trying not to think about the haunting images coming from the other guy, the one of them who was in pain. Seiji had told Ryou earlier that the other person's name was Xiu, the one Ryou hasn't met, yet. Something terrible must be happening. The boy Seiji was staring at doesn't look armed, but Seiji was still worried. Ryou would stand beside him no matter what, even against these guys in the weird yoroi and the lethal weapons.

It was the boy with a long braid, to Ryou's surprise, who jumped in the middle of things, putting himself in a very vulnerable position right in front of Seiji's and Ryou's swords. How funny thatRyou hadgrabbed swords to fight with. Wouldn't it have been easier to try and use the gun that Zechs had rather than a sword? Still, the swords did feel almost, but not quite, right in Ryou's hands. Like the swords should be different.

"Ryou, don't do it!" The braided boy shouted. "Heero's my friend! Don't you remember me? It's me, Duo."

Ryou frowned. _He...he knows me? How can he know me? No one knows me but Seiji, his sister, and her friends._ Ryou was sure he hadn't met Duo before, but there were still pieces of his memory that were missing and Ryou thought that maybe Duo was one of those missing pieces. Seiji asked Ryou if he remembered Duo and Seiji wouldn't lie.

Another shot of pain struck Ryou's head and he saw a flash of a face, white waves of hair and a pale face that wore and eye patch over the left eye. Who was that? Was it his memory, or something Xiu was seeing? _I have to concentrate! I have to deal with this before I worry about Xiu._

Something wet and warm started to trail down Ryou's face, running onto his mouth and down Ryou's chin. The metallic taste of blood touched his tongue. _Blood?_ Ryou didn't take his eyes off the strangers, but touched his face with one hand and pulled it away to find the tips of his fingers covered with blood. _My nose is bleeding?_

"Please, Ryou." Duo was begging, bringing Ryou's attention back to him. Ryou almost gave in just because of the heartbroken expression in his eyes. "Don't fight us. We're your brothers. We're family and we still have to find Kay."

"I don't remember having any brothers and I don't know Kay." Ryou told him truthfully. _I don't remember a lot of things, but surely I'd have remembered brothers. Seiji said my brother was Duo._

Duo only seemed to get aggravated by that. "Oh, come on! We grew up in the same orphanage, Ryou! Did you know they killed Sister Helen, and Father Maxwell?"

"Sister Helen?" Ryou did remember Sister Helen. Father Maxwell, too. Sister Helen was the one who'd met him that first day at the orphanage and Father Maxwell was in charge of the whole place. Dead? Why would they be dead? Ryou saw them just before he'd gotten adopted by... Ohhhh! _Why can't I remember?_ For all Ryou knew, Duo was telling the truth. "I remember growing up in the orphanage, but I don't know you."

Duo scrunched up his face and thought furiously, his hands clenching as if he wanted to fight, but didn't know who to fight. "Don't you remember when Akira was picking on me and you beat him up for me? It was the first day that you were there."

Ryou lowered the swords slightly. The memory of Akira was perfectly clear. He could still see Akira's face, red from embarrassment after Ryou had hit him. "I do remember Akira and fighting him, but I don't remember why."

"What about Sydney Dorson? She lost her mouse and you found it for her."

Again, Ryou lowered the swords a little. Sydney with her bright red braids and her large gray mouse she kept as a pet under her bed in a shoe box. When it had chewed its way out of the box, she'd cried for hours until Ryou had finally found it in the kitchen.

Then Duo seemed to get another idea. "Swords! Naaza-san taught you to use swords. He showed you to use wooden swords first and then he let you pick out your own katanas from the armory."

The fierce looking man with the bladed chain weapon and the red face mask, asked Duo, "Were you trained in some sort of weapon?"

Duo didn't look away from Ryou. "Yeah. I use a scythe." Then Duo grinned. "Even got a hot knife and burned my initials into the handle of every one I had."

"Initials?"

"Duo Maxwell. D.M."

To the armored men it seemed to mean something, but Ryou raised the sword again. He didn't remember anything familiar about swords or anyone named Naaza. Ryou's vision started to blur, and his head swam for a minute.

Duo ploughed on, not seeming to see Ryou's dizziness. "But he did! And he even let you hold his venom swords once! Please, Ryou, you have to remember! Mama Sh'ten," He pointed at the man with the chain weapon, "taught me to use my scythe and we played in the mountains and...and...we met Seiji on the mountain after that big metal thing fell out of the sky and...and we dyed Rajura-san's hair orange...and..." Duo's babbling was rapidly turning into sobs.

"It's true." Seiji said, softly. "I remember that day."

Suddenly, Ryou couldn't see and the floor seemed to vanish under his feet. When his head cleared, Seiji was next to Ryou. He was still clutching his sword, but looking in nearly as bad a condition as Ryou felt. Blood was oozing out of his ears and left thin trails of red down both sides of his face.

"What's happening to us? What's wrong with Xiu?" Shin asked, but Ryou could barely hear his voice as his ears were still ringing. "Why are we bleeding?"

The other one armored man, the one who hadn't spoke before, looked at us, his eyes burning with cold fire. "The yoroi, Kongo, has claimed Xiu as its own and, in turn, increasing his psychic power. As you are all connected, this affects you all, intensifying his pain. It makes you more vulnerable to his psychic trauma and he can't yet stop himself from sharing the pain with you. When you all come into your yoroi, you will all be at the same power level, so you won't be affected like this. Later, you will learn to shield yourself from each other, if you need to. You are bleeding because your brains are hemorrhaging from the stress of trying to cope with having so much pressure all at once."

Sh'ten looked at the one who'd just spoken with disbelief in his voice. "How do you know all that?"

"Naaza just told me."

"Ah, that explains it."

"Are you saying that I'm dim?"

"I never said any such thing, Anubisu."

A slight move behind him and Ryou's mouth fell open when Yaku-chan strode into the room to stand beside the armored man, Anubisu. The man put a hand on Yaku-chan's head, stroking him slightly and Yaku-chan allowed the touch. This was enough to amaze Ryou, at the very least. Ryou suddenly realized that he didn't remember when he met Yaku-chan. _I've known him for a long while, but I don't remember who gave him to me or if we just found each other._

Yaku-chan walked to Ryou and Ryou could focused on his dark brown eyes, so comforting. "Yaku-chan, what's going on?" If only he could talk! Yaku-chan leaned in, rubbing his face against Ryou's and Ryou let himself relax against Yaku-chan's massive strength. He dropped the swords he'd been loosely holding. If Yaku-chan could trust them, then so could Ryou.

"Listen to them." Touma said and Ryou looked back at him. Touma was leaning against Shin with his blonde friend watching everything with large eyes. His friend had said very little, but Ryou got the definite impression that he was making plans behind those innocent eyes. He was a dangerous person. Now that Ryou look at his three friends, he saw that they were all bleeding. Touma from the nose, like Ryou, and Shin was bleeding from his eyes, giving the eerie impression that he was crying tears of blood. Touma continued, "He's got no reason to lie and you told us you don't remember bits of your past. Maybe this is the answer."

Seiji shook his head. "There are many reason for lying." He tried to push himself up, grimacing at the effort, and looked pointedly at the stone-faced boy he'd been staring at. "Orders, Heero?"

Heero said, "Retrieve or eliminate." His voice was firm with conviction.

"Stay with me."

Heero's eyes widened with disbelief at what Seiji had said, Ryou thought, but then narrowed again. "Why?"

Ryou wished he knew what they were talking about. He knew Seiji wanted this boy to stay. Wanted it very badly. Even if Ryou couldn't understand what's going on, the two boys seem to understand each other perfectly. Seiji's eyes softened as he looked at Heero and Ryou felt sadness from Seiji. Sadness and regret that he'd failed to do something.

"I never wanted to leave you." Ryou had rarely seen so much emotion on Seiji's face, but for Heero, Seiji was almost crying.

The pain stopped so suddenly and was replaced by a cold emptiness where the pain had been. The world went black.

Sh'ten-

All of the boys they'd come for had fainted at once. Their eyes suddenly rolled up into their heads and they fell limply. Ryou collapsed, but was caught by Byakuen and Duo ran to him to make sure the boy was all right. Suiko and Tenku fell into each other's arms. 'I'll have to find out their names soon.'

"Touma! Shin!" The blonde cried out, alarmed. Well, now Sh'ten knew their names, even if he didn't know who belongs to which name.

I'VE GOT HIM! Rajura shouted in their minds. HE'S CUT OFF FROM THE OTHERS.

WE FIGURED THAT OUT. THE CHILDREN WERE SO SHOCKED THAT THEY FAINTED. WHERE ARE YOU ANYWAY?

DON'T WORRY ABOUT THAT, WE'LL BE BACK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. YOU'D BETTER SEE IF YOU CAN BLOCK THEIR MINDS A BIT FROM EACH OTHER. MAYBE WITHOUT INTERFERENCE, THEY'LL BE ABLE TO SLEEP EASIER.

THAT'S A GOOD IDEA. Sh'ten had no idea how he was going to do it, but perhaps he could force them to sleep just a bit deeper and that would cut them apart enough. Sh'ten went to Ryou first, as he had no one but Duo guarding him and Duo trusted Sh'ten very easily. Duo moved aside for Sh'ten who saw that Ryou was pale and shaking, even in his faint.

Sh'ten leaned down and looked into Ryou's face, concentrating his power and felt the burning as his symbol, Loyalty, appeared on his forehead. There were several gasps from the mortals, but Sh'ten tried to ignore them as it really didn't matter what they thought. Anubisu would make sure none of them interfered.

The symbol for Benevolence was still shining on Ryou's forehead as it had throughout the whole ordeal, and Sh'ten leaned in to touch their foreheads together. Nothing happened.

Oh, dear.

"What are you trying to do?" The dark haired woman demanded, still hovering near the blonde, Seiji. "What's that thing on your forehead? Seiji has one, too."

"Of course he does, he's one of us." Sh'ten told her, wishing the silly woman would be silent long enough for him to get something done. Why can't I touch Ryou's mind? Maybe we have to wait until they are claimed by the yoroi. "Don't touch him," Sh'ten warned, seeing her get to close to Seiji. "Their psychic energies are too high and adding your own energy won't help. It causes them pain to be touched by people who can't control their own minds."

"You touched him." The blonde boy pointed out from where he was kneeling near Tenku, though he was careful not to touch his friend.

"As I said before, we are the same. My touch doesn't bother him. Now, be silent." Sh'ten took Suiko's face in his hands next and tried again. Nothing. Sh'ten wanted to beat something. What was he doing wrong? When his brothers were ill or needed him, Sh'ten could just encourage their minds to rest, forcing them into a deeper than natural sleep. He couldn't even feel the minds of the children.

"What did you do, exactly?" The auburn haired man asked, curiously, as he watched over Sh'ten's shoulder. Sh'ten frowned at him, but the man showed no fear. Irritation, yes, but not fear and that bothered Sh'ten. "I would like to know what's going on."

Anubisu sneered, "You're only mortal, what makes you think you deserve any answers?" He was as irritated as Sh'ten was and trying not to show it. This had always worked in the past, why not now? They are like the Ma-Sho that it should work. The bleeding was getting worse for all of them, their shaking was slowing as they got paler, however.

Sh'ten had to admit, he had no idea what he was doing wrong. They'd never tried this on anyone but themselves. They'd just assumed that it would work with the new ones.

RAJURA, WHAT DID YOU DO TO XIU TO SEAL OFF HIS MIND FROM THE OTHERS? I CAN'T AFFECT THE CHILDREN HERE AT ALL. Sh'ten asked his far away oldest brother. Though he hated asking for help, Sh'ten knew that Rajura had a talent for things that involve the workings of the mind. There was no one more talented.

I REALLY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING, JUST SHOWED HIM HOW TO BETTER SHIELD HIMSELF FROM THE OTHERS. I COULDN'T TOUCH HIM, EITHER. I DON'T KNOW WHY WE CAN'T FEEL EACH OTHER, I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND.

Then, Sh'ten heard Naaza's voice in his head, though Naaza was speaking more to Rajura. Naaza, not many people would think, was the most patient of all the Ma-Sho. He was very willing to wait for years just to get something done. He could also be very sensible, the serpent in him showing it's nature. He'd once told Sh'ten that snakes are very logical and single-minded in their pursuits. He also tended to look for the simplest solutions.

WHEN HAVE WE EVER UNDERSTOOD ANYTHING THAT'S HAPPENED TO US? Naaza said in that soft, slightly hissing voice Sh'ten had grown to love. JUST ACCEPT WHAT WE ARE GIVEN AND BE GRATEFUL IF WE CAN SAVE THEM. DON'T QUESTION WHAT WE ARE. YOU WON'T FIND AN ANSWER.

Though Sh'ten loved his Za-chan to the depths of his soul, he had to say that he found Naaza's attitude odd. How could he not look for answers? Sh'ten knew there was more to life than what one saw. If there was a mystery, he wanted to solve it. There must be someone or something that knows why we have this power and what they are. 'We were certainly not human, so what are we?'

PERHAPS WE SHOULD KILL THEIR FAMILIES TO STOP THEM QUESTIONING. WE DON'T KNOW IF THEY ARE DANGEROUS. Anubisu suggested, not wanting to get to deep into the philosophical argument he knew that could explode between Naaza and Sh'ten. He, like his brothers, has no great love for humans and the deaths of four more wouldn't really bother any of them if the humans intended to stand between them and their new family.

Naaza advised, DON'T DO IT, TEN-CHAN. HOW WOULD YOU HAVE REACTED IF I HAD KILLED YOUR DAUGHTER TO BRING YOU TO THE YOUJA-KAI THAT MUCH SOONER? TO SEVER ALL TIES TO THE NINGEN SEKAI IS NOT ALL THAT IMPORTANT, WE HAVE TIME TO WAIT.

That made Sh'ten pause and he remembered the flame haired girl he'd left behind long ago.

THEY WILL COME TO US SOONER OR LATER, WE ONLY HAVE TO WAIT. Naaza continued.

Well, that was true. In a few short years they would start to realize that they'd stopped aging. In a couple of decades, their families would be gone. When they were alone, save for each other, they would realize that they belonged with the Ma-Sho. _We belong together, after all. It's natural for us to seek each other out._

Sh'ten remembered watching his daughter, sweet Kadiri, grow up while he still looked like a new father. She grew older, until people who saw them thought Sh'ten was Kadiri's brother and later he was mistaken for her son. Sh'ten watched his daughter marry and have a son of her own. He watched his grandson grow up and have a child of his own. Sh'ten cried at his daughter's burial, but not just for her. She was old and withered with age. Yet Sh'ten was the same as he had been at nineteen. With her children and grandchildren all around him, Sh'ten felt utterly alone.

It was at Kadiri's funeral that Sh'ten had met Naaza. Naaza with his bright green hair and serpent eyes who seemed disgusted with the people around him. The caste mark on his forehead showing him to be from far off India, but the faint cast of green to his skin proved that he was not quite human. Naaza was waiting for Sh'ten and told him that he was not alone. There were others like him and they were waiting for him. Naaza had told Sh'ten, after the burial, of tales of the glorious Youja-Kai. Stories of power and unimaginable battles. But, best of all, he'd told Sh'ten that no one ever aged. Sh'ten wouldn't have to lose anyone to age again. Together forever.

If Naaza had murdered Sh'ten's daughter just to get him to go to the Youja-Kai a few years sooner, Sh'ten would never have gone with them. Perhaps he was right about patience with the mortals. They didn't want to anger their new brothers unnecessarily, after all.

"I am Oni Ma-Sho Sh'ten Doji." Sh'ten told the people watching him. "You're friends are in pain because of something that happened to the last of their number. We can save them and we will. The only question is whether you will try to stop us or not." Sh'ten started walking toward Seiji.

"We have doctors to help them." The masked man told Sh'ten.

"Doctors who will not be able to touch them without causing them harm. Doctors who can not explain this." Sh'ten knelt and pointed to the symbol of courtesy of Seiji's forehead. "Or this." He gestured to - but didn't touch - the yoroi orb around Seiji's neck that was also glowing, bright green. None of the humans had an answer for that.

Without waiting for an answer, Sh'ten bent and touched his forehead to Seiji's and, surprisingly, found a crumbling wall. It must have been broken down when Xiu's mind surged through them all. It had been a clumsy wall, but effective enough to hold out the minds of his brothers. As Rajura has told him to Sh'ten tried to show Seiji how to build a shield, rather than force him to do it, and it worked much better. It seemed that none of them liked being made to do anything. Without the confusion of added minds, Korin could focus on healing himself.

If only the yoroi could tell Sh'ten how to get all our lost memory back.

Hmmm. Now that's another interesting question. It seems that Duo was the only one of them who remembered anything of their lives together. No, not quite. Byakuen, also, remembered all of them and seems to want to get them together.

If Arago took their memories after sending Ryou, Duo, and Kay to this world, who took Ryou's memory?

Did Kay, wherever she was, remember anything?

So many questions and not one answer in sight.

Finally, Sh'ten got all of the boys resting properly and then it was time to decide what to do next. They were far too weak to be taken home to the Youja-Kai - Arago would surely take advantage of their vulnerable states. Then, there was the question of what, exactly, to tell the children once they did wake up.

HONESTY IS EASIEST AND BEST. Anubisu said in our minds. He was a very simple person and not much for getting things complicated by lies.

BITE YOUR TONGUE, BOY! Rajura shouted back, offended.

I'M SERIOUS. Anubisu responded.

SO AM I.

COME ON, WE'LL HAVE TO TELL THEM IN THE END, WHY BOTHER LYING NOW?

WHAT IF THEIR FAMILIES FIND OUT? Rajura asked.

Sh'ten answered, ASK ME IF I CARE. DUO ALREADY KNOWS EVERYTHING FROM WHAT HE'S TOLD ME ON OUR WAY OVER HERE AND HEERO SEEMS TO KNOW QUITE A BIT, ALSO.

Rajura sounded irritated. I ALL READY TOLD XIU I'D KILL HIS FAMILY IF HE TOLD THEM ABOUT US. ARE YOU GOING TO MAKE A LIAR OUT OF ME?

DO I HAVE TO BOTHER ANSWERING THAT? I DON'T CARE IF THEIR FAMILIES FIND OUT, WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO DO, ATTACK THE YOUJA KAI? DO YOU THINK THEY CAN DEFEND AGAISNT US WHEN WE DO ATTACK?

Anubisu interrupted, SO, ARE WE AGREED THAT WE TELL THEM EVERYTHING?

ONLY TO THE BOYS. Naaza compromised. WE DON'T TELL ANYTHING TO THE MORTALS, THE CHILDREN CAN DO THAT LATER, IF THEY WANT TO. THEY MIGHT NOT WANT THEIR FAMILIES TO FIND OUT THEY AREN'T EXACTLY HUMAN. He had intimate knowledge of that kind feeling.

AGREED. Sh'ten said. It was a plan, at least. What were they going to do with the children until they were strong enough to face Arago safely, though?

AGREED. Anubisu said quickly, happy to have a decision, finally.

Rajura was silent.

IS SOMETHING WRONG? Sh'ten asked.

I THOUGHT WE'D BE CONNECTED TO THEM LIKE WE ARE TO EACH OTHER. ARE WE REALLY THAT DIFFERENT FROM EACH OTHER?

WE MUST BE. THEY ARE STILL LIKE US, THOUGH, THEY ARE YOROI BEARERS.

BUT, WE CAN'T EVEN FEEL BASIC EMOTIONS FROM THEM, LET ALONE MIND SPEAK. I CAN'T FEEL THE SLIGHTEST THING FROM XIU, NOT EVEN WHEN THE YOROI TOOK HIM, OTHER THAN THE FACT THAT HE WAS THERE. WE CAN TELL WHERE THEY ARE, BUT NOTHING ELSE. LOOK AT THEM.

They all took a look in their minds at their psychic beings. It was like being separated by a glass wall. They could see - but not feel - the healthy, strong Xiu, Kongo, glowing bright as a pumpkin, among the weaker colors of red, green, and two shades of blue. They were fireflies compared to Xiu's brilliant light and he would have burned them out if the Ma-Sho hadn't been able to shield them.

WHO KNOWS? PERHAPS, AS NAAZA SAID, WE JUST HAVE TO ACCEPT WHAT WE ARE AND NOT QUESTION IT. WE MAY NEVER KNOW THE ANSWERS. Anubisu said.

Sh'ten just couldn't accept it! _We have to know what we are. We must be more than just warriors and instruments for the yoroi! One day, I will find out!_

"We will guard the children until they wake up." Anubisu told the mortals bluntly. "You have no choice in this matter, so do not argue. We would prefer to take them to their homes for certain safety reasons, but if you cause us trouble, we will take them elsewhere and you will not be able to stop us."

The dark haired girl glared, as did the blonde boy.

"What makes you think we don't have a choice?" The red auburn haired man asked. "Swords are no match for guns when attacking at a distance." He pulled aside his dress coat to reveal a small gun, belted to his hip, though he didn't draw his weapon.

Sh'ten opened his mouth to answer, but Anubisu said, OH, LET ME DO IT, PLEASE.

WHATEVER YOU WANT, 'NUBIE.

Anubisu raised his no-datchi high and shouted, "Koku Rou Ken Ankoku Cho Uhigiri!" (Black Lightening Cut or, more literally, Black Wolf Sword Leaping Darkness.)

From the sword, streaks of black lightening arched out, shattering the ceiling, letting the starlight in. The masked man put his arms protectively around the man who'd threatened the Ma-Sho with that gun thing and the dark haired woman leaned over her brother to protect him from the falling roof. With bits of the ceiling still falling, Anubisu concentrated and Sh'ten knew what that meant. Sudden gusts of freezing cold wind blew through the room and in seconds it was snowing inside, ice hung from furniture and they were all shaking uncontrollably. After the little display -and it was undeniably a "little" display -Anubisu lowered his no-datchi and let the cold ease off.

"Do you still believe your weapon can match mine?" Anubisu asked the mortal arrogantly.

The auburn haired mortal's eyes narrowed, clearly unhappy with the situation, but he seemed to be a calm thinker and was trying to figure out the best course of action before he did or said anything hasty. He was certainly not afraid, just cautious. He dusted a light covering of snow off his sleeve.

"Very well, you clearly have us at a disadvantage. Don't you think it would be a little rash to kidnap people, right in the middle of an army base?"

Sh'ten rolled his eyes at the absurdity of the thought. "Don't make me kill you, ningen. It would all be too much fun. They need someone to take care of them. You are not able to, so we will."

The blonde boy asked. "Why are they so different all of a sudden? There was nothing wrong with them yesterday." He asked in a deceptively innocent voice. If this boy had yoroi, oh what an opponent he would be! Such fierce emotion in his eyes and the violence Sh'ten knew was hiding under the surface was lovely.

"There's nothing wrong with them now!" Anubisu said defensively. "I'm sure you wouldn't understand. It's not really your business, anyway. What is your relationship to these boys?"

The blonde said, "Touma's my brother." He looked down briefly at the blue haired boy before saying in a very firm tone, "He and Shin are coming home with me."

Sh'ten almost smiled. There was a very dominant person hiding under those soft blue eyes and the gentle voice.

"Excellent." Sh'ten thought he surprised the blonde with that. "I will accompany you and guard them until they wake. When I have a chance to speak with them about what is happening, then I will leave you home most willingly."

"You only want to talk to them?"

"Yes."

The blonde was honestly worried and Sh'ten had to think that it was nice for Touma to have such loving family. The blonde finally nodded. "You will be watched, while in my home, but I don't see that I have any choice. You seem to be the only ones who understand what's going on with them. I am Quatre Rababer Winner." He introduced himself formally and tried to smile. "I'm sorry we seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot, but Touma is very special and I don't want to see him hurt."

Well, that's nice. Unfortunately, Sh'ten rather thought Touma would look better if he were in a little bit of pain. Still, he thought everyone looks better with pain of some kind.

"Seiji's my brother." The girl said, her look almost as hard as Quatre's was. "He and Ryou are staying with me."

Anubisu grunted, sheathing his no-datchi across his shoulders. "I'll go with them, then. "Call me, Anubisu, girl."

She raised one elegant eyebrow and said stiffly, "Call me, Noin, boy."

Their eyes met and Sh'ten raised an eyebrow. It would be an interesting night for them.

Continued...


	17. Memories

Chapter 17 : MEMORIES

Sh'ten-

It was decided that Ryou and Seiji would go to Noin's home with Anubisu and that Sh'ten would take the two others, Shin and Touma, to Quatre's home. Both Ma-Sho knew they had to keep the boys under guard and give them time to safely develop into their powers. After all, it wasn't as if this sort of thing happened every day and if Arago tried to get his hands on them it would be very bad for everyone.

Duo spoke up quickly, "I'm going with Ryou and Anubisu-san!" Then he grabbed Heero's hand eagerly. "You come with me, Heero, 'k?" The look in his eyes was priceless, so endearing.

_I still can't believe that I helped raise such a child! If he doesn't show some evil soon, I may have to kill myself as a failure as a parent._ Sh'ten shook his head and turned away from Duo, to hide the disappointed look in his eyes. _How could I have had anything to do with such a...a good boy?_

"Yes." Heero answered in his dull monotone voice, though his eyes were still fixed on Seiji.

Sh'ten worried about Heero - that boy was dangerous. He'd seen that look, the one is Heero's eyes, before. On the battlefield, there were men who had lost everything. They filled their lives with the only thing that gave them purpose - war. The result was battle for the sake of battle with no love for it. Personally, Sh'ten rather enjoy fighting, there was a thrill, an undeniable excitement that he couldn't live without. Heero wasn't a warrior, Sh'ten knew that with one look into Heero's cold eyes. No, warriors were filled with passion and fire, this boy is ice. _I don't like it. He isn't a warrior, he's a killer._

It was that coldly determined look that warned Sh'ten that they'd have to keep a close eye on both Heero and Seiji. They couldn't have Seiji being killed before he even received the yoroi, which would mean more waiting for another yoroi bearer to be born and more of a risk of being discovered by Arago. It would be far easier for them to break Arago's hold on them if they had all the yoroi at the same time.

KEEP AN EYE ON HEERO. Sh'ten told Anubisu. HE'S GOT DEATH ON HIS MIND AND WE CAN'T LOSE SEIJI. It was quite simple to someone like Sh'ten, who'd seen so much war and death in his life, to see that Heero was thinking how best to kill Seiji. _He's just under orders, I think. Heero's too cold to be doing this for vengeance or some other reason._

Anubisu and Sh'ten both picked up their respective charges and prepared to follow wherever they were led. While Sh'ten put Shin over his shoulder and Touma under one arm, Anubisu was no doubt showing off for the girl Noin when he slung both of the other boys over his shoulders easily. I THINK HE LIKES HER, Sh'ten thought idly. It was a bit of a surprise, He'd never thought of one of them falling in love with a ningen.

ANUBISU! Rajura shouted furiously at Anubisu, obviously having heard Sh'ten's thoughts. He shouted through the distance that separated them as if they were only feet apart. WAIT UNTIL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!

I HAVEN'T TOUCHED HER! Anubisu defended himself quickly. THOSE WERE SH'TEN'S THOUGHTS, NOT MINE! Then he glared at Sh'ten, sourly. I'LL GET YOU FOR THAT, 'TEN.

Sh'ten looked away and kept his mouth shut. Better to not get involved anymore than he already was.

Rajura wasn't placated and continued to rage. I DON'T CARE! YOU'D BETTER NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT HER IF YOU EVER WANT TO PUT YOUR ASS BACK IN MY BED!

Anubisu swallowed hard at the threat and pouted. Rajura wouldn't ignore him forever, but he was very good at holding grudges and a horribly jealous lover. Sh'ten was fairly certain that Anubisu would keep his hands to himself around the girl.

Heero-

Duo grabbed Heero's hand, but let go the instant that Heero tugged it back from him. _I don't like being touched! _

Duo took the hint well and didn't touch Heero again, though he did make sure to stay fairly close while they were all walking with the heavily armored men carrying the four boys. Duo spoke happily (Heero had seen no sign of the insane killer he'd first met in the alley since Duo had found his family, though they no longer remembered him.) and looked at the fearsome Anubisu and Sh'ten with something very much like love. Heero didn't think he liked that. Duo also kept grabbing the hand of Ryou, the dark haired boy, and talking to him, though it was clear Ryou was asleep.  
Heero didn't understand why Duo spoke to Ryou. Ryou can't hear him, but that didn't seem to worry Duo at all. He was wasting his breath, but that doesn't stop Duo.

Noin, Seiji's sister, though they looked nothing alike, kept a close eye on Anubisu. Her hand hovered near the gun at her side, even though she'd already seen that it was a useless weapon against Anubisu's obviously superior yoroi. Still, she seems to think she should at least try to fight if she needs to and has a very determined look on her face.

While Duo was busy talking to the others, Heero was able to think on his dilemma. Seiji was obviously helpless and easy to dispose of, but...well, did Heero really want to just shot Seiji when he was asleep? He could. It was an easy shot, really. It didn't seem right, though. Seiji shouldn't be shot when he was defenseless. Heero shook his head and wondered when he had start thinking such foolish sentimental thoughts.

Seiji had to die or be recaptured; it was an order.

Doctor J's exact orders had been, "Find Hiro and bring him back. Bring him back or kill him, Heero. He's too dangerous to let loose. After you have him or you've killed him, come back to the base."

Doctor J had never said WHEN Heero had to complete this mission. For that matter, he never specified when Heero had to go back to the base. Now there was an interesting thought Heero hadn't considered before.

Yes, Heero would do as he was ordered, but he want to talk to Seiji, first. _I want to see his eye again, before I have to kill him. He'll never let himself be brought back, and I can't really blame him. Why am I going back? Torture? Pain? There was that and more waiting for him if he was taken back to doctor J. If I were in his position, I suppose I would chose to be killed first, too. What point is there in life if it's all pain?_

It was simple for Heero. He was ordered to do something, so he had to obey. What else did he have in life? Nothing. Heero had learned that obeying doctor J was more logical and less painful, so that is what he did. Heero really didn't think he could disobey a direct order from doctor J if his life was on the line. Seiji was different, though. Just being told what to do had always incited rebellion in him and he fought against it as hard as he could. He either could not or would not take orders from anyone.

Still, seeing Seiji still bloody and even paler than normal, draped over someone's shoulder like old laundry, hurt. Heero don't want Seiji to be hurt. If he have to kill him, Heero could do it so Seiji would never feel any pain.

Walking with Duo, Heero said not a word as they passed all the puzzled looking guests. They left the Kushranada mansion quietly, the remaining guests, who still mingled in the garden, staring at them curiously, but saying nothing. As soon as they were out of sight of the guests of the OZ party, the yoroi the two men wore faded away to be replaced by lighter, though still strange, suits of armor.

They passed out of the carefully maintained garden and into a slightly wooded area, part of the forest that surrounded the Kushranada estate when, out of the corner of his eye Heero saw someone. A girl with long auburn hair and a fancy red party dress, as if she'd run away from the party, was watching them. She was sitting, with her back to a large tree and a book in her hands. As they passed, she looked up and slowly put down the book. Her mouth fell slightly open as the two armored figures carrying the boys changed into the light yoroi in front of her and her eyes are narrowed in thought, but not fear.

Heero wondered who she was, but she wasn't Heero's mission, so he didn't pay her too much attention. _I must stay with Seiji until I've killed him._

After Sh'ten and the boy, Quatre, parted ways with the rest of them, taking the ones called Touma and Shin with them, Heero went to the Date home where Anubisu set up Ryou and Seiji in the same room and carefully covered them both with blankets. All night they stayed there, but still Ryou and Seiji didn't wake up. They slept deeply and Anubisu's only comment was that they needed the rest and not to wake them. Anubisu stayed with the two sleeping boys constantly, not bothered by the fact that Seiji's sister, Noin, had set up her computer in the bedroom and fully intended to stay until her brother woke. Duo, also, choose to stay and Heero with him. For some reason, it was important that Heero didn't leave Seiji alone.

The bedroom was an eerily dark room (Anubisu said he preferred the dark and he didn't bother with turning on any lights that might wake the boys) with only a small light for Noin to work at her computer. Heero had stationed himself near the door and made himself as quiet as possibly, listening to the tapping of Noin's keyboard and Duo's pleasant chatter as he fussed over his brother. Is it jealously that made Heero want to rip Duo away from the sleeping boy?

Colony A0206-  
Rajura-

"You have to start packing, 'Fei." Xiu said as he stuffed clothes into a suitcase that was on his bed. "Mama doesn't want to stay here any longer than she has to, she's afraid they're going to attack again."

Rajura had seen it all, of course, watching as Xiu and Wufei spoke together in Xiu's bedroom on the colony. It was duty and worry that made Rajura and Naaza keep such a close eye on Xiu. They both knew, from experience, that Xiu would have a hard time as his mind and body adjusted to the yoroi that had come to him so suddenly. With Rajura's illusions keeping them invisible, the two Ma-Sho stayed close to Xiu.

Xiu and Wufei were arguing after the battle had ended and people were starting to try and clean up the colony. It had only been about a day, but already, the people of the colony were trying to rebuild their lives and honoring their dead. As far as Rajura was concerned, it hadn't been much of a battle. Real battles didn't involve women or children and they certainly didn't attack unarmed peasants.  
"I'm not going anywhere. I will find the one who ordered this attack and I will have revenge." Wufei declared, even as he helped Xiu to pack his bags for the return trip to Earth. Together, the two boys packed hurriedly, but they'd been bickering about the same thing all evening.

"I want someone to be there to take care of mama and Lai." Xiu protested. "How can I fight if I think they're alone without anyone to take care of them? You HAVE to go back to Earth with them."

Wufei gave him a hard look. "YOU will go to Earth with your family. I will fight. I already have a name to look for, so there's no reason for you to be anywhere but with your family."

"Damn it, Wufei! You're not going to just send me away, this is my fight! Tell me who did this and I'll go get the ass hole." Xiu snarled, throwing a handful of his clothes down onto the floor. "I won't let you fight my battles."

Wufei turned on his cousin, furiously. "How dare you! This is as much my battle as it is yours! I lost my wife!"

"And I lost most of my brothers and sisters." Xiu replied hotly. "You've already had your revenge, you destroyed those mobile suits that killed Meiran. I want my chance!" Xiu felt like fighting and he wasn't going to let Wufei take the source of revenge away from him.

"Think for once, fool! Your family needs you." Wufei reached out to Xiu, but Xiu didn't want to think reasonably.

"Leave me alone!" Xiu gave Wufei a little push to get him off, but ended up throwing Wufei several yards into a wall and Wufei crashed to the ground with a loud thud and a grunt of pain.  
Xiu's mouth fell open, horrified at what he'd done. "Oh, man!" He ran to help Wufei up. "I didn't mean it! Are you okay? I didn't mean to hurt you."

Rajura, watching from his illusion of invisibility, knew what had happened. Kongo was showing its strength. This was what Xiu would have to learn to control in the coming days. Rajura thought back briefly to his own time adjusting to the Gen Yoroi and swallowed a hard lump in his throat. Those were memories he preferred not to relive.

But Wufei wouldn't be side tracked, even though his voice was strained by pain. "What's going to happen if you die? What will your mama do?"

Xiu froze, his brow furrowing.

Wufei, seeing that he finally had Xiu's attention, continued quickly, "What will Lai do without a big brother to take care of her? What if something happens to your mama and Lai is orphaned? What if Lai dies and your mama is left alone? You know that would kill her! It's not fair for you to go off looking for revenge, especially if you know how much you're going to hurt them."

Xiu slumped, the wind firmly taken out of his sails. "I have to do something. I...I can't just sit back and do nothing."

"The only thing you have to do is to let me take care of getting justice for our family and you take care of our family. Be thankful that you can go home with them. I have no one to go home to, anymore."

"You're a part of my family. How will I protect you if you're in a war?" Xiu put his arms around Wufei, and hugged him tightly.

"I can take care of myself. You have to worry about the women in your family."

Xiu sighed, but apparently saw the wisdom of Wufei's argument. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I want to do something more, though."

Rajura was pleased at the decision and glad that Xiu wouldn't be going into any kind of battle situation soon. He wasn't ready to fight with the way Rajura was sure Xiu's body was going to start acting. He wouldn't be able to control himself and needed careful guarding.

A couple of hours later-  
Xiu-

Xiu was still upset by the argument he'd had with Wufei and about the way he'd been able to push away his cousin, sending him flying into a wall. As he walked through the terminal to get to the shuttle that would take them to Earth, Xiu thought he'd found the answer. It was probably just adrenaline. Yeah, he was so angry that he'd just gotten a rush of adrenaline.

"Hello. Nice seeing you again."

Xiu spun around at the voice. It was that white haired guy with his green haired friend. Both were dressed in their fine black suites and stood behind him in the line to get on the shuttle back to Earth.

"What are you doing here?" Xiu demanded, glancing around to see if his mama were anywhere in hearing distance. Thankfully, she'd gone to feed Lai while Xiu bought their tickets and was nowhere in sight.

Rajura smiled, slyly. "We're going to Earth." He replied simply. "It should be an interesting experience, we've never ridden one of these space shuttle things before."

Naaza had his arms crossed and was glaring at Rajura. "I don't see why we have to do this." He complained crankily. "Let's just meet him on Earth. It'll be easier and we won't have to put up with all these stupid ningen's."

"Since when have I ever done anything the easy way? Come on, let's buy our tickets." Rajura, looking happy as a clam to be standing in a long line waiting for his ticket, smiled and his eyes kept looking all around as if he really had never seen any of it before.

"Will they take gold?" Naaza asked, digging a hand into a pocket and pulling out a small handful of gold coins.

"Of course they will. Who doesn't accept gold?"

Xiu turned back, trying not pay any attention to them. Maybe if he ignored them, they'd leave him alone.

Ryou-

A few nights later-

Ryou tossed and turned in his sleep. A dream.

Chibi-Ryou sat bolt upright on his futon, sweating and feeling the freezing cold more horribly than before. Usually when he got cold at night he would just crawl into Duo-chan's bed and cuddle up for warmth. But mama Sh'ten and Rajura-san had taken Duo out to see the fire pits in the East. They'd told Ryou it would take a day and a night to make the trip, but Ryou didn't want to go. He really didn't want to see hundreds of small lakes of fire, spewing flames up twenty feet into the air. That, unfortunately, left Ryou home without Duo-chan to keep him company.

Ryou crept out of bed to find the one source of heat he wasn't afraid of. Wearing heavy woolen clothes and two pair of socks on his feet, Ryou just wasn't warm enough. He quietly went into the hall and walked right passed Anubisu-san's room. That place was horribly cold and Ryou wouldn't go in there unless he absolutely had to.

Duo called Naaza-san's room the snake pit, for a very obvious reason. The room was like a pit, several feet lower than the hall outside and one had to go down a set of stairs to get into Naaza-san's room. Crawling with hundreds of different snakes of all colors and sizes, the place was constantly in motion.

Ryou pushed the door open and peeked in, smiling at the rush of hot air that flooded out. Naaza-san was there, sleeping, of course. Naaza-san slept on a large, flat stone, raised about a foot off the floor, which was always almost hot. On top of the stone was a comfortable blanket. The floor was warm, too, and Ryou had once been told that it was because there was lava under the castle.

"Is lava like fire?" Ryou had once asked mama Sh'ten, nervous about the thought of fire under his new home.

"No," Mama Sh'ten had told him. "Lava is melted rocks, not fire."

Naaza-san was dressed in un-dyed linen trousers and nothing else. He lay on his belly on the stone, several snakes sleeping on his broad, bare back and on the futon around him. His bright green hair was spread out around his face and Ryou could see the faint green coloring to Naaza-san's skin, tiny scales that he had in spots all over his body.

"Clossse the door, Ryou. You're letting the heat out." Naaza-san opened one eye just a slit and looked at Ryou, still peeking in the door.

Ryou quickly did as he was told and stood awkwardly on the steps that led down into Naaza-san's sunken room, unsure if he should go down or not. Naaza-san slowly opened both eyes, fixing his calm gaze on Ryou. He didn't always hiss, but Ryou knew when Naaza-san wasn't thinking about it, he tended to hiss and his long tongue flickered out of his mouth strangely.

Naaza-san didn't bother to get up, he only tilted his head a bit so he could look at Ryou better. "Are you coming in or not."

Ryou timidly walked down into the snake pit, careful not to step on the snakes that lay in his path. "My room's too cold, oniisan. Can I sleep here, tonight?" Ryou asked hopefully. He was already feeling better with the humid warmth and the fact that Naaza-san didn't have candles in his room, like mama Sh'ten, because the snakes didn't like them. There wasn't a bit of fire in here.  
Naaza-san didn't bother to move, except for blinking. "You want to stay here?"

"If you don't mind."

Naaza-san almost smiled before hissing at the snakes on the stone he was laying on and they obligingly crawled off, leaving room for one more. Naaza-san gestured with a slight move of his head to the empty spot and Ryou broke out in a grin. He ran to the stone bed and hopped up, cuddling quickly into Naaza-san's side while resting his cheek on the futon and feeling the hard, warm stone beneath. The warmth floated up and went right into him. Ryou sighed contentedly. Naaza-san was looking at him, seeming confused.

"What?" Ryou asked.

"You aren't afraid of me, are you?"

This seemed to be a very odd question to Ryou as he'd been living with them for nearly a year. "No. Why?"

"No reason." Naaza-san put an arm over Ryou's back, pulling him in closer. "Close your eyes and rest?"

Ryou fell into a deep sleep, happy and safe.

End of dream-  
Anubisu-

Ryou still didn't wake up, but Anubisu noted that the boy was smiling so he was probably having a pleasant dream. Duo had fallen asleep, leaning back against the chair Noin had given him, and even Heero was dozing, unable to stay awake any longer.

_I wonder if Sh'ten will let me keep Heero. I like this boy, he's strong and very tough, the basics for a great warrior._ Anubisu had to sigh. _If only I'd taken that job with doctor J, maybe I could have taken him to the Youja-Kai long ago. Ah, well. The past is the past, no use dwelling on it._

Naaza-

Naaza woke with a start and found himself where he'd fallen asleep, on the strange "shuttle" that was taking them back to Earth. They'd agreed that until all the children were taken by the yoroi, they shouldn't be left alone, so Rajura and Naaza were keeping a close eye on Xiu. Unfortunately, that meant being limited to this modern science for travel. Naaza didn't like the feeling of traveling through space, it just didn't feel right, so when he began to get tired, he welcomed sleep to take him away from the uneasy view of stars that were far to close.

Naaza blinked at the memory. Ryou. Sanada Ryou, creeping into his room and asking to sleep with him. In the middle of all the snakes, and with the monstrous Naaza, not caring about the scales or the fangs or the tongue. Ryou was afraid of fire, yet drawn to it against his will. He was a sweet boy who'd accidentally burned his grandmother to death and Naaza himself had adopted him with the help of Sh'ten dressed as a woman, pretending to be his wife. Ryou who hid from people, afraid that they'd find out about his terrible power over fire. The memories came flooding back almost painfully fast.

"You didn't sleep long." Rajura commented from his side. "What's bothering you? You seemed happy enough in your dream."

I REMEMBER! Naaza was far too excited to bother with speech.

WHAT?

I REMEMBER THE BOY, RYOU, AND THE ONE SH'TEN MET, DUO. Naaza shook Rajura's arm urgently, unusually upset by this. HE WAS SO SWEET! I REMEMBER EVERYTHING. YOU AND 'TEN-CHAN TOOK THE BOY, DUO, OUT RIDING AND RYOU WANTED TO SLEEP IN MY BED. DUO CAME TO US WITH RYOU AND THEY WERE BEST FRIENDS! DUO WAS ALWAYS PLAYING PRACTICAL JOKES ON US, BUT YOU TAUGHT HIM TO LIE AND HE DUMPED A BUCKET OF WATER ON YOUR HEAD. IT WAS ARAGO WHO TOLD US TO GET RYOU, HE KNEW RYOU WOULD BE AN YOROI BEARER AND WANTED US TO TRAIN HIM AS A WARRIOR. WE TRAINED DUO, TOO, BUT WITH A SCYTHE, NOT SWORDS.

Naaza was so excited, waving his arms and letting his long tongue dart out of his mouth. Rajura had to hold him still. GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF! I CAN'T UNDERSTAND A THING YOU'RE SAYING. LET ME SEE YOUR MEMORY.

Naaza did as Rajura told him, but when Rajura tried to look at the memory, he was blocked out. Something, not Naaza, but something in himself, was stopping him from seeing it. ARAGO DID THIS, TOO. Naaza said. IT WAS PUNISHMENT FOR LETTING RYOU AND DUO ESCAPE. HE WAS ANGRY AND GOING TO KILL DUO, BUT RYOU INTERFERED, ATTACKING ARAGO. GODS, I REMEMBER EVERYTHING!

Rajura-

Rajura felt left out when he couldn't see Naaza's memory, but he did believe Naaza. Rajura was able to easily tell when someone was lying to him, and Naaza was too excited to be lying. Still, why couldn't Rajura see the memory? Sh'ten and Anubisu, through the link, couldn't see it, either. So, there was a chance of getting their memories back.

Rajura gave a satisfied smile, he was sure that this was all Arago's doing from the start. One more reason to destroy the demon emperor.

Just as soon as Rajura got his memory back.

Earth-  
Xiu-

Back on Earth, Xiu was staring to have problems with his new found strength. He found that he couldn't do anything without breaking something. At first it had been kind of fun, knowing that he was the strongest guy around, probably the strongest guy on Earth, but then it started to sink in.  
Mama had asked him to put some clothes away in the closet and the doorknob had shattered in his hand. Xiu stared down at the dust in his hand and then let it flutter to the floor. Another time, Xiu was just putting his pants on and tore them in half without noticing it. He didn't dare to use plates or glasses anymore, but resorted to paper plates and cups, for fear of destroying them, too.

Xiu was starting to get nervous that at anytime the inhuman strength might flare up and he'd break something else. His family wasn't rich, and Xiu knew if he broke something important, like the restaurant's stove, they'd be in big trouble. Without the stove, there was no business. No business, no money.

The final straw came one morning, "Xiu, darling, take your sister for a moment, won't you?" Mama asked him. "My arms are dead tired."

Rajura watched the whole scene and knew what Xiu's reaction would be and wasn't to surprised to see Xiu looked at the baby as if she were a rattlesnake. "No."

"What?" Mama was shocked by her son's answer. He was always willing to help out watching the children and now that the others had died, he couldn't seem to get enough of holding Lai. "Don't fool around, Xiu. I need your help."

Xiu put his hands in his arms pits and started to back away.

"Xiu!" Mama called after him, but Xiu had run out into the street, slamming the door behind him.  
"So, are you ready? Are you ready for training?"

Xiu had felt the person before he turned around. Rajura, again grinning at Xiu. Xiu glared, but bowed his head in defeat, wanting to cry. "I can't hold Lai. I'll hurt her."

"Oh, come now. You can't be sure of that." Rajura told him in an almost mocking tone. "You may be lucky and she'll survive your loving embrace."

Xiu snapped. "This isn't funny!"

"I'm not joking." Rajura stepped closer to Xiu. "I'm going to back to my brothers today and I think it would be wise if you went with me. Naaza has already gone and will meet us there. We need to speak with you and the others together. We'll help you learn to control your power."

Xiu nodded, wordlessly. That meant seeing Shin and Touma, again.

"Do you want to tell your mother that you're leaving?" Rajura asked.

Xiu thought, biting his lip nervously. It might be better if he just left and didn't come back. There was something going on, behind what Rajura was telling him. He wouldn't have just gotten the yoroi if there were no need for it, but Rajura wasn't telling him something and Xiu didn't want to get his mama involved in something he didn't understand or with someone like Rajura whom he didn't fully trust.

But, he'd come back to Earth to protect his family and how could he do that if he was just going to run away? He should stay with them. But then, how could he protect them from himself? "No. She'll just want to know what's going on and I don't think I want her to know about this. Let's just go."

So with that, the two of them started off down the street, though Xiu knew he'd have to face his mama about this eventually. "Don't worry." Rajura told his new charge, putting a brotherly arm over Xiu's shoulder. "I'll take good care of you."

Anubisu-

Noin had been wary enough that she didn't want to leave Anubisu alone for more than a few minutes with the two boys. She'd brought some machine in the bedroom with her, a box that she tapped on, making flickering writing appear on a flat screen. A kind of magic, perhaps, and Noin seemed almost obsessed with it. From time to time, swearing at the screen and often glaring at it.

"What happened to Seiji's eye?" Anubisu asked when he pulled aside the boy's hair to check on him at one point. The eye was completely gone, a mass of scars going from his left eyebrow to the middle of his left cheek. Anubisu touched his own cross-shaped scar just under his right eye. It was from a barely remembered battle, one before he'd been granted the privilege of wearing the Yami (darkness) Yoroi.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out." Noin told him, not looking up from her work. "I've been searching on my computer for days, looking for the person who did this. I've got information that it was the same man who trained your friend, Heero. Seiji won't tell me and I can't seem to get any information out of Heero, either." She gave a dark look to the boy she'd been pestering with questions for an hour.

Anubisu looked over at the silent boy, still standing in a corner of the room, his arms crossed over his chest, seeming more interested in Duo than the sleeping boys. Heero, the mysterious boy that Anubisu only half remembered, who had won over Duo so completely was standing guard, having an intense interest in Seiji.

"I know who trained him." Anubisu said in an off-handed manner.

"What? Who?" Noin turned to him fiercely.

Anubisu opened his mouth to reply, but something caught his eye. A glow from Seiji. The orb around Seiji's throat was glowing again, as was the kanji of courtesy. Noin and the conversation forgotten, Anubisu walked slowly toward Seiji, curious about this new development. Ryou was still sleeping, unchanged.

Duo looked up from where he was sitting at Ryou's side. "What's going on?" He looked at Seiji and stood up. Heero stepped closer to Duo in a sweet sign of caring. He didn't want Duo too close to these possibly dangerous people, though he didn't go so far as to touch Duo in any way. Naaza had told them all that he had remembered Ryou and Duo in a dream. That meant that it was true as Naaza had no reason to lie and therefore, hadn't.

Seiji started to glow brighter.

Seiji's nightmare-

Seiji had forgotten whatever it was he'd done to earn the punishment, but he clearly remembered the punishment.

"Give him Dark Room therapy." Doctor J ordered coldly.

Seiji froze in terror. _No! Not again!_ One of the large guards grabbed Seiji by the shoulders and started to pull him out of the room he shared with Heero. Seiji struggled for all he was worth, but it was no good. He was small and, for all his training, he was still a child. Heero rushed to help, but was restrained by the other guard.

Doctor J said, "You will learn discipline, Hiro. If I have to kill you, you will learn discipline."

Neither boy uttered a word or even a sound as they were parted. That part of training, at least, they had learned long ago. Seiji struggled and fought, desperate to get away, anything to avoid the dark room. Heero pulled against the guard who held him, wanting to get to his partner more than anything, but it was no use. The strangely silent fight ended with Seiji being picked up off his feet and carried out of the room.

They carried him a short distance down the hall to the Dark Room. Seiji's worst fear. He almost-almost- screamed when the guard punched in the computer code for the lock and opened the heavy metal door. Seiji was pitched in unceremoniously, landing in a heap on the floor just as the door was slammed closed again.

Darkness.

Complete, total darkness.

Seiji huddled in a ball on the floor and closed his eyes. He tried very had to remember the bright colored flowers of his childhood. Bright yellows, reds, and pinks, dancing in the breeze in a garden, people laughing and, most importantly, sunlight everywhere were. This was what he wanted to see instead of the empty nothingness around him. Emptiness that could be hiding anything.

His imagination didn't help much. It wasn't just the fact that Seiji was effectively blind, but there was no sound. Everything was insulated, so nothing could get through the walls. No corners to hide in, either, as the room was perfectly round.

Seiji started humming to himself, trying to concentrate on something, anything to get his mind off the emptiness around him.

A drop of water struck his head and Seiji stood, steeling himself for what was to come. The deluge soaked him for just a few seconds and then it stopped, leaving him standing in almost two feet of ice cold water and still in the dark. The water never drained away so Seiji sat again, in the waist deep water. Hours it seemed, but Seiji couldn't tell. No one came to talk to him or tell him what was going on, they never did.

Just when Seiji was starting to fall asleep, to exhausted to even feel afraid right now, a sharp electrical shock ran through the water and Seiji screamed with the intense pain, putting his hands up to his head, as if he could block out the pain. It lasted for only a moment before the water was still again and Seiji sat back down, unable to stand on his shaking legs. Well, now at least he could see spots in front of his eyes, if nothing else.

Waiting.

Waiting.

Waiting.

There was nothing to do but wait until they let him out. Long ago, Seiji had tried to escape from the Dark Room, but found it impossible. There were no windows or locks on the inside. No material to make weapons out of and no access control for the computer, either. He knew that all he could do was wait. Seiji was terribly hungry after a while, and had to listen to his stomach rumble. They wouldn't feed him, either, while he was in here, either.

If only he had a little light.

Light and Seiji rubbed his eyes, not sure if what he was seeing was right. Yes, there was a faint green light in the darkness. The remembered green yoroi from his dreams long ago.

CALL TO ME, BUSSO KORIN. I'M WAITING FOR YOU. THE DARKNESS IS OUR STRENGTH, CALL TO ME AND I WILL COME. BUSSO KORIN.

Seiji reached out to the glowing yoroi, mouthing the words, busso Korin.

Anubisu-

Anubisu backed away when Seiji started to glow, his kanji symbol standing out starkly, thrashing his head in his nightmare. Seconds later, Anubisu had to shield his eyes at the light.

Anubisu watched, as best as he could, while Seiji glowed brighter and brighter. He didn't talk in his nightmare, but his hands clenched the bed sheets tightly, giving himself white knuckles. Seiji glowed brighter and brighter and Anubisu was starting to tear up because of the painful light.  
The glow from the symbol on Seiji's forehead was spreading, making his whole body glow. Brighter and brighter and Anubisu started to back away. Too bright! Anubisu tried to keep calm, tried not to be cowed by the light that made his heart quake. But, the pain was getting to be too much, searing his eyes and he screamed, slapping his hands over his eyes to protect them.

SH'TEN! HELP!

WHAT'S GOING ON? WHAT'S WRONG? Sh'ten asked and Anubisu felt the worry from Rajura and Naaza, too.

LIGHT! KORIN'S COMING OUT, BUT HE'S SHINING, I CAN'T TAKE THE LIGHT! I CAN'T SEE! OH, GODS, IT HURTS!

A slight power surge and then thin hands were on Anubisu's shoulders, touching his face gently. "Don't worry, 'Nubie. I'm right here." A kiss on Anubisu's left eye. "You're beautiful when you're suffering. You go watch Shin and Touma, I'll stay here."

Anubisu didn't wait, and followed Sh'ten's power trail back to the room where the two others were. He breathed easier when he saw that the lights were out and silently thanked Sh'ten for thinking ahead.

The darkness was a blanket he often wrapped himself in to hide from the light, but Korin's light had been too much, too soon. Anubisu slumped against a wall and let his blurry vision settle, rubbing the pain away as best as he could, before he went to the two beds in the room and took a good look at Shin and Touma. Then he noticed the other person.

A thin young man with brown hair, one long bang coming sharply over one eye, much like Seiji's hair covered his face. "Who are you?" Anubisu asked.

"I'm looking for Mouri Shin." The boy said in a soft voice.

"What do you want with him?" Anubisu asked sourly. The last thing he wanted to deal with was this boy. The boy was holding one of those modern weapons that the girl had tried to hurt Sh'ten with at the party. The metal, hand held weapon that could do no actual damage to Anubisu's armor.

Trowa-

Trowa knew something was wrong when he approached Quatre's house. There were guards running around on the grounds, heavily armed and grim looking.

Trowa hadn't been able to find the mercenaries who'd come too close to killing Shin. He'd put himself in plane sight, yet no one had even tried to kill him, which made Trowa very suspicious. He'd even appeared without the mask several times to lure them in, but no luck.

He had to check on Shin, because if the assassins weren't looking for him, maybe they really were after Shin. What if they'd stayed on Earth and wanted to get the opportunity to finish Shin off?  
Also, along with concern for Shin, doctor G had ordered Trowa to look for someone. Someone who would help him accomplish Operation Meteor needed help to accomplish a mission of his own. He was to find Heero, a fellow Gundam Pilot, and help him to kill someone. Unfortunately, Trowa had been given nothing but a photo to help him find Heero, a photo and information that he'd be found somewhere in Japan. Big help.

Trowa, with his gun drawn, eased open the door. He'd managed to make his way passed all the guards in the house, who were upset about something, and searched all the rooms he could find. In the end, he came to a bedroom with a man standing inside. A man stood inside, looking out the window, and Trowa could see only his profile, stern and sharp. Long red hair hanging around the man's shoulders. In two beds, on opposite sides of the room, were Shin and Touma.

The man lost focus, his eyes going distant for a moment, as if he were having an internal conversation, before he vanished. Trowa had to blink a couple of times before he could accept what he'd just seen. It was impossible for a person to simply vanish, yet he had just seen it happen.  
Very well, he had seen it, so it had happened. On to the next worry, Shin.

Before Trowa had gotten more than four feet into the room, another man appeared, this one gasping and rubbing his eyes furiously. He, like the red head, was armored, but it was like no armor Trowa had ever seen. This one had blue hair and seemed to be in pain. It took a moment for the blue haired one to realize Trowa was in the room with his gun drawn. The man showed no fear, though, simply dismissed the gun as if it were nothing.

"Who are you?" The stranger asked, warily.

Trowa walked in further, to get a better look at the stranger. "I am looking for Mouri Shin." Was this a trap set to catch him? Somehow, if it was, it seemed a bit too subtle for the mercenaries.  
The man now turned to look at Trowa fully. "What do you want with him?"

Trowa still didn't answer, but he went to the bed where Shin was sleeping soundly. Shin also looked paler than normal. "What's wrong with him?" Trowa asked.

"He's just sleeping." The stranger asked, stepping closer. "What concern is that of yours?"

Trowa didn't answer, but he shook Shin's shoulder. "Wake up."

The stranger slapped his hand away from Shin. "Let him sleep." The man snapped. "He needs the rest. I'll ask only once more, who are you?"

Quatre-

Quatre was walking to his father's office in the city. He didn't like leaving Touma and Shin alone with Sh'ten, but he had to contact some people. Besides, Touma and Shin would be safe enough with Rashid and Abdul, not to mention all the other guards on the grounds.

Something hard 'thunked' against the back of his head and Quatre gasped at the sharp, blinding pain. He fell forward limply at the unexpected attack. Quatre vaguely heard the voice, "So, this is the friend of Trowa's we were told about. We'll see how good a friend he is when he wakes up."

Quatre blacked out.

Continued...


	18. Torture

**Chapter 18: TORTURE **

**Sh'ten-**

Sh'ten tried not to worry about the stranger Anubisu had just discovered in the room with Shin and Touma. Anubisu could easily deal with the problem. Instead, he focused on Seiji who was shinning like a sun in the night. It was nearly impossible to see Seiji through the light. Sh'ten had to shade his eyes against the light that only seemed to get brighter and brighter.

"What's happening to him, mama?" Duo asked, still at Ryou's side and squinting against the light coming from Seiji.

Sh'ten gritted his teeth, still uncomfortable with the addition to their lives. 'Mama', of all the absurd things! But, the boy was not all that objectionable and he did seem to care about them. Duo had not left Ryou's side since they found him in an alley with Heero and he'd told them all about how he lived with them. Despite the obvious fact that he was mortal, Duo described quite accurately their home in Youja-Kai and the way they lived. Sh'ten found himself believing the boy.

"Korin comes to claim him." Sh'ten answered solemnly and saw Duo clasp Ryou's hand tightly. Could Duo possibly think that it would hurt Ryou to get his yoroi? Perhaps he was worried for Ryou's sake, as the two of them seemed so close. "The elemental yoroi will seize them."

Duo just smiled and stroked Ryou's forehead. "Oh, that's okay, then."

"You know about the Yoroi?" Now, this had surprised Sh'ten as Duo hadn't mentioned anything about it before. How could Duo have known about the yoroi unless he really had been a trusted part of Sh'ten's family?

Duo smiled sweetly. "Never heard of it."

"But..."

"You taught me and Ryou to fight with weapons when we were very young and I know you, Naaza, Anubisu, Rajura wear the yoroi. I sort of got the idea that we were going to be warriors along the way. Besides, we're family, so I trust you. I know you wouldn't do anything to hurt Ryou."

Sh'ten gave Duo a long, thoughtful look. It worried him that this mortal seemed to know so much about them, but Duo didn't want to stop them in any way. It worried him more, for some reason, that the boy trusted him without question.

_I'll have to worry about that later._ Sh'ten touched the kanji of Courtesy on Seiji's forehead, where he thought it should be, it was hard to see with all the light and wondered if Seiji's development into being a warrior would be difficult for him. It was a good thing Anubisu had left or he'd surely have been blinded.

The kanji of Korin stood out, like a beacon, in all the power radiating from Seiji and Sh'ten felt, more than saw, where it was. Was this how it was for the others when Sh'ten first came to the Youja-Kai? Sh'ten had had the orb long before he'd been brought to the Youja-Kai, but his yoroi didn't appear until he'd met his brothers. Using the more sensitive kanji, Sh'ten tried to get into Seiji's mind, only to have himself blocked. It should have been easier since he was actually touching the kanji, but it didn't make any difference. There was a wall around Seiji's mind that had a little to do with the magic that made him a bearer for the elemental yoroi and more to do with his own experiences in life. Seiji had grown used to shielding himself from everyone around him.

_Damn!_ They still couldn't get into the minds of these new ones. They could feel the great power that the boys had, but couldn't get in their minds to do any good. Seiji would just have to settle into his yoroi on his own and Sh'ten would speak with him once he'd woken up fully. By they way Seiji was glowing, it wouldn't be long. Sh'ten now couldn't look directly at Seiji and found himself looking at the girl, Noin. She had tears of pain running down her cheeks while she held one arm over her eyes to protect them and squinted, even then. Noin didn't bother with any foolish questions as she'd just heard Sh'ten tell Duo the little that he knew about the Elemental Yoroi. _At least she doesn't waste time with idiot questions._

Naaza was suddenly there, at Sh'ten's side, his eyes firmly closed against Korin's impossibly bright light. "Rajura's just going to fetch Xiu and he'll come as soon as he can." Naaza told Sh'ten. "The boy's being a bit difficult."

Sh'ten put an arm around Naaza, but resisted the urge to hide his eyes by putting his face on Naaza's shoulder. Not that Naaza would have minded, but Sh'ten believed he should be strong enough not to hide from anything. "How's Xiu taking it?" Sh'ten really didn't like not being in their minds. How were they supposed to take care of the children properly if they didn't know what the children were feeling or thinking?

"Pretty well, all things considered. He's still upset about the deaths in his family and that little war they had in outer space. He'll get over it." Naaza really wasn't as cold as he liked people to think he was, he just didn't want to let himself get emotionally involved in something that might hurt him.

"Yeah, well, he'll get used to war soon enough. I'm sure he just needs a little training." Sh'ten answered. "Anubisu will come by as soon as the two other boys wake."

Suddenly, they both looked at the bed where Seiji was starting to wake up. He was thrashing and tossing his head back and forth, from what little Sh'ten could see. Sh'ten could hear, just barely, as Seiji mumbled in his sleep, "Busso Korin."

**Heero-**

Heero went to stand next to Duo, frowning at the scene taking place before them. His whole life had been one of logic and fact. Never once in his childhood had Heero been told a fairy tale or read a story that was not absolute fact. He didn't like this.

Seiji was glowing.

Seiji, his friend and partner (no, former friend, former partner), was glowing with an unearthly light, and Duo and Sh'ten had spoken of mystical yoroi. This was not possible, yet it was happening. Sh'ten touched Seiji's forehead with a long, delicate looking hand and another man, one Heero hadn't seen before, appeared from nowhere at Sh'ten's side.

Duo believed all of this completely and Heero was finding himself forced to believe. He was seeing with his own eyes, he had to believe.

Kay had told Heero much about the Youja-Kai. Duo had spoken of being exiled by a demon creature with immense power. He had seen with his own eyes the two men who'd found them that very afternoon change from looking like well dressed business men into the macabre, dark yoroi's they'd suddenly taken at the OZ party. How could he report this to doctor J? Doctor J would surely think he'd gone mad and order him to self-destruct.

_Still,_ Heero reasoned with himself. _Why should I have to report anything? This doesn't pertain to the mission at all, with the exception that Seiji is laying helpless in front of me and I should kill him while I have the chance._ It didn't even matter that Heero had been in the same room with three top OZ officers. Killing them wasn't his mission. Not yet, anyway.

A hand brushed his arm and Heero looked down at Duo. "Don't look so worried. Everything will work out." Duo smiled up at him.

Heero didn't answer, but he did feel a sting of...something when he saw how attentive Duo was being to Ryou. Touching him and barely ever taking his eyes off the sleeping boy. _Now, is this emotion? Anger? No, not quite. Jealously? Maybe..._ Heero was just starting to think about this when Duo's fingers curled around Heero's hand and Heero froze, taken completely off guard by the sudden touch. Duo didn't seem to notice Heero's stiffening and turned back to Ryou, but he did keep holding Heero's hand.

Heero fought not to shake off Duo's hand. Duo's hand did feel very warm and comfortable, after all, and even the calluses on Duo's fingers felt nice. But, Heero was getting a strange feeling in his stomach the longer he let Duo hold his hand. It was a funny fluttering sensation, like something was moving around inside of him. Heero swallowed hard, not sure if he liked this or not.

Images kept popping into his mind. The first time he'd been raped and the many times after when doctor J had allowed the soldiers to touch Heero for training. Doctor J had said that it was apart of training. Heero needed to learn to resisted interrogation even if the enemies resorted to this sort of torture. Still, if it was only training, Heero did think it strange that doctor J always, without fail, watched this training with a frightening leer and his hands clenched tightly around his walking stick.  
Heero had learned to separate himself from during the training, so he could almost not feel or see what was going on. Of course, he could never entirely escape the sessions. The lingering memories of hands on him, hard and unfeeling.

_I don't want to think about that._ Heero forced his thoughts away from those dark nights and focused on the present.

But, Duo's hand didn't feel like that. Duo felt...different.

Luckily, before he had to decide anything about the unusual feeling, Duo let go for a minute to straighten Ryou's blankets, and Heero backed away into the corner of the room where he'd been standing beside the woman who was not only Seiji's sister, apparently, but also an OZ officer.  
Noin had been working on her computer, before Seiji had started to glow, but now she was standing, her lips were thin with worry as Sh'ten, one of the two mysterious men leaned over Seiji. Heero wanted to help Seiji. He wanted to do something to keep Seiji from pain, but really, what could he do? This was all impossible and Heero had no clue as to what was going on, let alone how to help.

Looking out of the corner of his eye at Noin, Heero saw her stricken expression and how her hands were clenched to her breast with worry for the glowing Seiji. Heero knew she felt just as helpless as he did. How much pain would she feel when Heero killed her brother?

Heero turned away and tried not to think about that, it would only make him weak. Heero had discovered that it hurt too much when he let himself feel, so he wouldn't let himself feel in this matter, either. Seiji would have to die. That was the mission.

The light coming from Seiji suddenly intensified, until even Heero was forced to look away. He heard Duo gasp softly and felt worry for Duo. He almost went to Duo to see if he was all right, but caught himself. If this went on, Duo would make Heero weak and he couldn't allow that. He had to be strong.

Heero heard, from Seiji, a mumbled, "Busso Korin."

**Sh'ten-**

"Busso Korin." The sleeping Seiji whispered.

Sh'ten had to shield his eyes against the sudden pulse of brilliant light, and then it faded, leaving Seiji in the bright green and white yoroi, Korin. Seiji was still glowing, but softer this time, surrounded by a gentle halo of light around his whole body.

"Dear Buddha." Naaza whispered, blinking his eyes. Seiji was radiant with his light, like heaven's light. The yoroi of Korin was bright green, like new spring leaves, with a helmet that had two sharp, lightening bolts just over his forehead. "Did he make it through? Physically, he looks alright, but what about his mind? Surely he's going to do more than just shine, right?"

"I don't know." Sh'ten leaned down over Seiji, looking for signs of any other changes. Seiji was still for a minute, but started to blink his eye, waking for the first time in a long while. Seiji said nothing as he sat up in bed and looked down at himself. Seiji raised one armored hand and examined it closely. Slowly, he turned to look at Sh'ten, his gaze, for once, showing worry.

"Korin spoke to me." Seiji said simply.

"Yes." Sh'ten answered.

The boy had a long, savage looking no-datchi strapped across his shoulders, in much the same way Anubisu carried his. He was accepting everything very well, far better than Xiu had. Seiji pushed himself out of bed, looked at everyone in turn, stopping on Heero's face for a minute, then back to Sh'ten. "This doesn't feel right." Seiji touched his forehead to indicate exactly what was feeling wrong.

"We've had to show your minds how to close themselves off, for your own safety. I'll open you to Xiu, now." But when Sh'ten moved forward, Seiji leaned away from Sh'ten's hand, his eyes narrowing. "It won't hurt." Sh'ten assured him. "You will feel better when you are connected to Xiu, and he'll be better, also. As your friends come into their yoroi, we'll open their minds, also."

Seiji shook his head, stubbornly. "I don't want to be connected to anyone."

Now this was a bit of a surprise to Sh'ten. He hadn't expected resistance to this. "If you are not connected as you should be, you will suffer, become sick." Sh'ten told Seiji, trying not to think of this beautiful boy in pain. Ahhh, now that was an appealing thought. "Your friends will become sick, also. Is that what you want?"

**Seiji-**

Seiji thought for only a moment. No, he couldn't let them suffer just for him. Besides, his mind felt strange. Like it was too empty and needed to be filled. He nodded in agreement and let Sh'ten into his mind. Sh'ten was no less imposing since shedding the heavy yoroi he'd worn earlier, demonic helmet and all. He wasn't all that big, Seiji saw, but there was something terrible in Sh'ten bright green eyes, something he tried to keep hidden. Sh'ten moved to stand in front of Seiji before he sat at Seiji's side.

"Relax yourself as much as possible." Sh'ten told him.

Seiji felt the tingle in the middle of his forehead, responding, perhaps, to the kanji of Loyalty half-hidden under Sh'ten's red hair. Sh'ten put his hands on the back of Seiji's head, firmly bringing their foreheads together.

Seiji had the impression of his wall being torn down. At least, Sh'ten was trying to pull down the wall that protected Seiji's mind. No, not his wall, his wall had been pathetically weak compared to the one now protecting his mind. Seiji fought it, at first, but Sh'ten was strong and reassuring, pulling the wall apart piece by piece until Seiji began to slowly help, relaxing his control over his mind for just a moment.

A hole appeared and though it...paradise! Heaven! Seiji could feel Xiu (how he knew it was Xiu, Seiji had no idea, but he was certain that it was Xiu) though that hole in the wall and it was so right. Now, Seiji helped Sh'ten in earnest, pulling the wall down as fast as he could until it was completely gone and Xiu's strong and comforting presence was with him.

Unfortunately, along with Xiu came disturbing, terrible memories of the attack on the colony where Xiu's family had suffered such awful loses. Other memories of home on Earth also came through their link. Xiu's childhood also floated between them and Seiji knew that Xiu was seeing his life in a similar way. Xiu knew how Seiji had been waiting for the yoroi. The dream of the yoroi was what had encouraged him to escape his slavery and return to Earth. By mutual agreement, Seiji and Xiu pulled down a curtain between them, cutting out the more private memories and thoughts.

SEIJI? Xiu asked, hesitantly.

YES. WOW, THIS IS WEIRD. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ANY OF THIS? Xiu's voice sounded very strong and Seiji liked the feel of it.

NO, NOT REALLY.

LOOK, I'M BACK ON EARTH AND THIS GUY, RAJURA, SAYS HE'S BRINGING ME TO YOU. I'LL BE THERE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

Seiji broke off the connection, instinctively knowing how to block his mind from Xiu. A few short hours ago, Seiji was struggling to keep his mind walled off from the others and now it seemed like the easiest thing in the world.

A movement at his side drew Seiji's attention. Ryou was tossing and turning in his bed as he started to wake up and the green haired man immediately went to Ryou's side, looking worried. The green haired man and Duo met eyes for a minute before the man touched Duo's hair. "Sorry we left you alone, little one."

Duo's smile lit up brightly. "You remember?"

Naaza nodded. "The others don't, yet, and I don't think Ryou does either. Give them time."

Duo was Ryou's brother, from what Seiji remembered. Duo looked worried, but grateful that Ryou was finally starting to wake up and even happier that someone remembered him.

It was the boy standing behind Duo that worried Seiji. The hard glass blue eyes that were fixed on Seiji made him worried. So, Heero had finally caught up with him. _So, why aren't I dead yet?_ Heero's eyes were as impassive as Seiji remembered them from their last meeting, giving away no hint of emotion.

**Quatre-**

Quatre woke slowly and whimpered pitifully. His head was throbbing and someone shook him. "Wake up, kid." A harsh voice came at Quatre from the darkness of his mind and brought him rudely back to reality.

Blinking to clear his vision and groaning again as the pain in his head increased, Quatre woke up slowly. He knew what had happened, it was a kidnapping. He'd never been kidnapped before, but with his life and his father's money Quatre always been rather expecting it to happen at some point. Where was Rashid?

"What's the matter? Does our baby have a headache?" The harsh, irritating voice asked, in mock baby talk, a little too closely to Quatre's ear. Close enough that Quatre could feel the stranger's hot breath on his ear and run down his throat.

Quatre's eyes sprung open to find himself in a room, brightly lit by lamps on the walls, and surrounded by several men, one of whom was obviously in charge. The kidnapping was probably for money. Everyone who knew his family knew that he had more money than God, or so his father had once said.

One of the men was dressed finer than his companions and looked slightly more polished, so Quatre gauged him to be the leader of this little group. "Good evening, Mr. Winner. You can call me Mayers, if you like." The one Quatre thought was the leader said. "I'm looking for a couple of friends and I have reason to believe you may know where they are. Trowa Barton and Mouri Shin. I've had several people inform me that Mouri Shin has been seen in your presence after leaving the hospital after a tragic incident of being shot."

Quatre was desperately trying to clear his mind enough to think things through. He had only met Shin when Touma had brought him home saying that Shin had been shot and needed a safe place to stay for a while, until Shin's brother, Trowa, came to get him. It was odd, though Touma rarely lied, especially to Quatre, there was no sign of any wound of any kind on Shin. Shin had even gone swimming in the pool at Quatre's house the first day he got there.

Quatre knew very little about Trowa or Shin, for that matter. Shin had only told them surface information about Trowa, though he'd told them every detail about himself if they asked. Shin was a very trusting person and it just didn't seem possible that he'd be involved with these people. Had Shin really been shot or was he just hiding? Why wouldn't Touma tell Quatre about that?

Of course, Quatre knew he might never get answers to those questions. _These must be the people who'd tried to kill Shin. _It must be, though why they'd want to do that, Quatre had no idea. He'd been told that someone had shot Shin during a circus act, but no one knew who or why. Well, the who question was solved, now.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Quatre lied. He just couldn't give up Shin to people like these, the sweet Shin wouldn't survive another murder attempt. Besides Shin's safety, Quatre also worried that Touma might be caught in the crossfire, or even Rashid or Abdul, who'd been like parents for most of Quatre's life.

Mayer's smile was replaced quickly by a snarl before he backhanded Quatre, making his head whip back and nearly snap. "You damned well better remember who they are, kid. I'm not here for ransom or any shit like that. I want Trowa!" The leader said acidly while Quatre's view of the room spun uncontrollably and he nearly blacked out again.

Now that was certainly a surprise. "I thought you wanted someone named Shin."

Another brutal slap, sending Quatre crashing to the floor. "Don't play the idiot with me, boy. You know them. You think I'm so stupid I wouldn't check to see if that brat died or not? My man saw you walking them out of the hospital before they lost you. Since then, neither have been seen. It's a good thing I happened to see you in the city. Are they at are your home, kid? Where do you live"  
So, they didn't know who he really was. Surprising, but lucky. They didn't know where he lived and, so long as they didn't know that, Shin and Touma wouldn't be hurt.

Instead of a smart assed comment that he wanted to make, Quatre clamped his mouth shut. He closed his eyes and waited for what he knew would come. Drawing on all the training he'd ever had, Quatre tried very hard to quiet his mind and retreat into himself. The pain would come soon, he knew, but if he could keep quiet for long enough, maybe they'd just kill him.

They wouldn't let him leave here alive, that much Quatre was certain of. Mayers had told Quatre his name so they would never let him live through this.

He just had to hope he could die without betraying Touma or his friends.

**Some time later-**

Quatre didn't know how long it had lasted, but he came to his senses several times during the torture, and wished he hadn't. They'd cut off several sections of his skin, peeling him like an orange. One long strip off his left leg and both forearms had been skinned, along with, what felt like, several strips off his back. Looking at the floor, Quatre saw several bloody toenails and, though he really couldn't feel it through all the general pain, he knew they'd probably pulled out his fingernails, too, but he couldn't distinguish one pain from the other. All the pain was just sort of blurring together at this point.

Quatre could barely move, his head lolling to rest on his shoulder and Quatre didn't think he could lift his head to save his life. Not that it would do much good now. He'd long ago been stripped of his clothes and shackled to a wall, but that was when he'd been fully awake and not in shock, like he was in now. Quatre knew he was in shock because nothing felt real. It was like a dream he was drifting through. But the pain was very, very real.

Mayers appeared in Quatre's vision. "I'd ask if you're ready to talk yet, but I don't think you will at this point. Personally, I don't even think you could if you wanted to. Well, nothing lost, I suppose. Trowa's been showing himself off, trying to lure us in, I suppose. I think I'd rather catch him off guard, he's a little too dangerous. I don't want him in control of the situation when we meet again."

Quatre blinked and Mayers, in his vision, blurred and fuzzed around the edges, but the man's voice still came in loud and clear. Quatre could see the small, shining knife Mayers held up, but it was blurry, too. _Where's Touma?_ Quatre wondered, confused. The world seemed to be growing fuzzy around the edges. _Touma always protects me. Where's he gone? Is he safe?_

"Now," Mayers said, in an almost friendly tone. "There's really only one more detail to fix, isn't there? I've beaten you until you've blacked out, I've had you whipped, I let one of my men cut off several of your fingers." The knife was lowered and Quatre felt it pressing close to his crotch and even in his dazed, confused state, he struggled, though it was a weak, pathetic effort. "Now, just hold still, this won't take but a minute."

Agonizing pain and Quatre thankfully passed out again.

**Xiu-**

"This is not a good idea. Look, I think this yoroi picked the wrong guy." Xiu told Rajura nervously awhile they walked down the busy streets of Sendai. He'd said the same thing several times as they got closer and closer to where Sh'ten was waiting with the others. It was more than the kanji orb around his neck that was making Xiu nervous and more than the mysterious white haired man at his side.

Everyone would be at Seiji's house, Rajura had told him. Everyone including Touma and Shin. How could he possibly face the two of them? After all that had happened, the last thing Xiu wanted to deal with was Shin and Touma.

"Why? Just because you don't like being strong? That is an absurd reason, you'll get used to it in time and you're already controlling it better than you were just a few hours ago." Rajura told him.

"I feel like a monster!" Xiu glared at his companion. Though he wouldn't go so far as to call Rajura a friend, yet, he had to admit Rajura seemed to be sincere in what he was saying. "I just want to get rid of it and go home to my family."

"If you're done pouting, let me just remind you that it was because of you being a 'monster' that you saved at least one of your siblings. She would be dead if it weren't for your strength."

"Yeah, but I might kill her if I try to hug her! Poor mama doesn't know what's happening to our house when everything starts to break." It didn't help Xiu's conscience that he'd just runaway from home without a word or even a note. Mama would be worried sick, but he had to learn to control himself before it was too late and he hurt mama or Lai. _I couldn't tell her that I'd become a freak. She shouldn't have to deal with that._ He'd have to gone back soon, or at least call her and try to explain everything.

"You'll learn. I used to suffer terrible visions until I could control my mind and that took months. You'll have it easier since we can teach you how to control yourself. Besides, I doubt the yoroi makes mistakes." Rajura said in a final tone. "The other two have woke up, I think you said you know them. Shin and Touma, right? Well, they're going to be there when we arrive. Ryou's working on waking up."

"All right." Xiu said, despondently. That was a whole other issue to deal with. "Why? Why did the yoroi chose me?"

"How should I know? Get used to it, young man. You've been granted immense power, whether you like it or not."

Quite a while later, they finally made it to the Date Dojo and Rajura considered the large, though still in disrepair, dojo. "Not bad. I used to go to a similar place, when I was younger."

"Yeah? How old were you?"

Rajura stopped walking and thought, seeming to take a long time. He thought, counted on his fingers and muttered to himself.

Xiu said, "Come on, how long does it take to think back a few years?"

"Give me a minute. It was more than a few years for me."

"How many more?"

"Ummm, well, I was about six, so it must have been about three hundred eighty-five years ago."

Xiu's mouth fell open.

"What?" Rajura asked, annoyed that the boy was staring at him.

"You're three hundred eighty-five years old?"

"No, I am...um...three hundred ninety one years old. I was only six when I started taking lessons."

Xiu was going to accuse Rajura of lying, but there was something about the man that just screamed he was telling the truth. "You're really serious, aren't you?"

"Absolutely. You'll have to get used to the eternal youth thing, too. That takes a while. Shall we go in?"

Xiu nodded and just as we started to approach the old house, Xiu saw four other people coming toward the house from another path. It didn't take long to realize who they were; one stranger with dark blue hair and one boy who was familiar as Shin's friend, Trowa. The other two, though, Xiu knew very well.

Shin and Touma.

Xiu felt his stomach start to churn painfully.

**A short while later-  
Sh'ten-**

They all just stared at each other in an awkward silence. Seiji and Ryou sat together on Seiji's bed with Xiu near the end of the bed. Touma and Shin sat on the bed Ryou had been using. Just after Seiji had woken up, Ryou woke, but still without his yoroi or memories. Duo was in seventh heaven, immediately gloomping onto Ryou. Trowa stood quietly in a corner, keeping a close eye on Shin. Shin was just nervously wringing his hands. Xiu stared at his hands in his lap, depressed.  
Trowa kept his mouth tightly shut, seeming to prefer to just wait and see what was going on.

Certainly a lot had changed since he was last here. When he did look away from Shin, Trowa's eyes fell on Heero. Trowa's face remained still, but he said to Heero, "01?"

To Heero, this must have meant something because he motioned for Trowa to follow him into another room. "Where are you going?" Duo asked.

"That room." Heero pointed, but offered no other explanation. Duo jumped up as Heero turned to leave. "Will you be okay, Ryou?"

"Yeah."

Duo flashed him a smile and then went after Heero. "I want to come, too!" Heero paused. "I don't want you involved."

"Involved?" Duo frowned. "What are you two involved with that I can't know about? I didn't even think you two knew each other."

"Duo, stay here." Heero told him, firmly.

"No, I don't think so. I want to go with you." Duo threw an arm around Heero's shoulder, only to be brushed off, with Heero looking a little disgusted with the physical contact. "Come on, I want to be with you." Duo pleaded.

Finally, Heero gave in and let Duo follow them out, closing the door behind them. Sh'ten never did find out what they were talking about in there.

No one said a word.

Finally, Sh'ten shook his head and decided to get down to business. "My brothers and I need to discuss a few things. You'll excuse us." He nodded politely to the newly awakened boys and gave Noin a low bow. The three other ma-sho followed him out into the gardens.

"Hey, wait for me!" Noin called after them. "I need to talk to you!" Noin went to Seiji and, again, kissed his cheek. She was so thankful that he'd make it through all that alive that she didn't care about the yoroi at this point, though Sh'ten wondered how long that would last. Noin stepped in front of Anubisu as soon as they'd all left the house and gone into the garden. "Before Seiji started glowing you said you knew who trained him."

Anubisu nodded. "Well, I know who trained Heero, anyway, and your brother was there, I think. Oh, that reminds me," He looked at Sh'ten. "Can I have Heero?"

"What?" Rajura glared at his lover.

"Not like that! I want to train him, he's got a wonderful start, but he needs to have a spirit to go along with all that skill. Can we bring him back to train him in the Youja-Kai?" Anubisu's voice was filled with hope, like a child asking for a new toy.

Naaza spoke up. "I don't see why we couldn't. He and Duo obviously like each other and Duo did quite nicely with his training. He was a very good fighter, actually, even without yoroi"  
That brought back the other issue, the fact that Naaza remembered things that were nothing more than blank space to his brothers. Sh'ten wanted to explore that matter a little more, but Noin interrupted.

"Well? Who was it?" Noin glared up at Anubisu. "I want names! Who hurt my brother!"

**Xiu-**

Xiu crossed his arms over his chest, determinedly not looking at his friends.

"Xiu? Will you talk to us?" Shin put a hand on Xiu's shoulder, but Xiu shrugged the hand away. He didn't want them to touch him! He kept staring at his lap.

Seiji's voice broke through Xiu's thoughts. DEAL WITH THIS.

Though Xiu wasn't used to having someone in his head, he grumbled back angrily, THIS ISN'T YOUR BUSINESS!

YOU'RE GIVING ME A HEADACHE WITH YOUR ANGER, SO IT IS MY BUSINESS. TALK TO THEM. Seiji took Ryou's elbow and the two of them stood up. "Let's go."

Ryou, still not able to hear the mind-talk, asked, "Where are we going?"

"I saw you use the swords at the party the other day. I want to see if you're any good."

This left Xiu alone with Shin and Touma and an awkward silence. Xiu stared down at his feet, really wanting to run away from this. He looked up at Shin who was wringing his hands and Touma who was nervously pacing, then back to his feet, again.

"We didn't do it to hurt you, Xiu." Shin whispered, afraid that he'd lost his friend forever. "It just sort of snuck up of us."

Xiu gave a shaky laugh, trying to sound nonchalant. "I'm not blaming you for anything, man. I mean, it's not like we had anything, right? I never said a word to either of you and I'm not the selfish type who wants everything for himself."

Shin walked around and knelt beside Xiu, putting a hand on his knee. "I'm not saying I'm ashamed of anything, Xiu. I love Touma very much. Please, look at me." Xiu felt a hand on his cheek and pull at his face until Xiu found himself looking into the deep soulful eyes he'd loved for years. The eyes that loved someone else.

Xiu jumped up suddenly. "Look, just leave me alone!" He turned to storm out of the room, but Touma was in front of him and, before Xiu could do anything, he kissed Xiu.

Xiu was stunned enough that he just stood there for a moment until he felt himself start to soften in Touma's arms. His anger melting away so quickly, leaving only despair. Xiu started to tremble before the first of his tears fell, rolling slowly down his cheek.

Touma broke the kiss, keeping his arms around Xiu. Xiu couldn't stop himself from crying and, with his eyes closed, Xiu leaned forward and let Touma hold him while he cried. As he sobbed, Xiu slumped to his knees, suddenly finding that his great strength had deserted him.

"I've loved you for so long, Xiu." Touma whispered. "You are one of the few people I actually trust. I'm sorry I never said anything, but...I admit it, I'm a coward. I was afraid that you...you wouldn't want me. You knew what my life was like before Rashid and Abdul adopted me, so why would you want me? I can't lose you now." Touma whispered, kissing Xiu's closed eyes. "I wish I'd been braver."

A slight weight pressed against Xiu's back and he knew it was Shin. Shin's hands rested on Xiu's hips and Xiu could feel Shin's face against the back of his head. "Don't block us out, Xiu. Don't let yourself go through that kind of pain again." Soft lips kissed the back of Xiu's neck, then moved to his ear, a gentle touch.

Touma shifted, putting his knees on either side of Xiu's legs and leaning forward and putting them in a VERY intimate positing, especially with Shin still pressing against him.

"I didn't want to feel how happy you were," Xiu managed to choke. "Without me." Xiu leaned his forehead down, on Touma's shoulder and they stayed like that for until Xiu had worn himself out.

Continued...


	19. I Found Him

**Chapter 19: I FOUND HIM!**

**Duo-**

Duo followed Heero and Trowa into the adjoining room, but he had no idea what was going on. All he knew was that Ryou was awake, his big brothers had come back for them (even if only Naaza-san remembered them), and Heero was only about three feet away from him. _I am so happy!_ Duo thought blissfully, gazing intently at Heero's lean backside.

Really, Duo had no idea what was going on, he just wanted to be with Heero. Trowa had said the word, 'meteor' as if it were significant, but nothing else. Why should Heero and Trowa be concerned with meteors? Why would they have to talk in private? Duo worried, for a moment, that perhaps Trowa was someone special to Heero. If it turned out to be that way, then Duo wouldn't get in the way…much. After all, if he could manage to convince Heero that he would be happier with Duo, then it was just bad fortune for Trowa, right?

Fortunately, Duo had nothing to worry about on that account.

"What do you want?" Heero faced Trowa after closing the door firmly behind him. Duo stood just behind Heero, for once being very quiet. Duo figured that it was one of those times that Rajura san had told him about when silence was better than talking.

Trowa gave a significant glance to Duo. "He shouldn't be here. He should not hear this."

"Don't mind me." Duo smiled from behind Heero. "Just pretend I'm not here. I only came to be with him, anyway." Duo cheerfully threw his arms around Heero's shoulders and snuggled up, pressing his nose against Heero's neck. Duo honestly didn't know why he loved Heero, he just did. It felt right and, therefore, Duo went with his feelings.

Heero stiffened in the embrace, but didn't pull away. Duo, thinking that the reaction was a bit odd, looked over Heero's shoulder at his face. Heero was pale and his eyes were closed. Heero had bunched up his fists at his sides and his lips were pressed firmly together.

Duo asked, concerned, "What's the matter?"

Trowa retreated to a corner of the room to watch discreetly.

Heero didn't move or speak or even open his eyes.

"Hey, if you don't want a hug, you just have to say so." Duo let go of Heero and was getting worried. Duo's big brothers hugged and kissed each other all the time and none of them reacted like this! Everyone in Duo's family was very tactile, they enjoyed touching and being touched, so naturally, Duo had picked up the habit. He liked having his loved ones touch him and the fact that Heero didn't want to be touched was very disturbing.

Heero's eyes slowly open and, without moving the rest of his body, Heero slid his eyes to look at Duo. He looked cautious and guarded.

"What's the matter? Please talk to me." Duo was practically begging. He just had to know what was going on. Heero hadn't seemed to mind when Duo had held his hand in the other room, so what was the problem?

Heero said nothing, but moved away from Duo before turning to see him better. "I don't like being touched."

"Why?" Why would anyone not like being touched? How was Duo supposed to show his love for Heero if he wasn't allowed to touch him?

Heero seemed to think about this for a moment, as if he didn't know how to answer.

"Training."

Heero and Duo both turned to look at Trowa, who'd spoken, still standing in the corner of the room. "What do you mean?" Duo asked, but Heero remained silent.

"Touching means pain." Trowa elaborated. "Heero and I were, I believe, trained in...similar fashions."

Heero's eyes widened as he looked at Trowa. "You mean you..."

"No. I have heard about doctor J's methods and my trainer was not so...demanding. However, I was subject to similar treatments. Duo, if you want to touch Heero, let him know before you do anything. Do not approach him from behind, he will take it as a sign of..."

"No!" Heero demanded. "I'll tell him." Then added as an after thought. "Later."

Trowa nodded, respecting Heero's wishes, but Duo was still frustrated. Why wouldn't they tell him what was going on? What could have been so horrible? "Why are we all back here anyway?" Duo asked, to change the subject. "And why are you so interested in Ryou's friend, Seiji?" Duo hadn't actually met Seiji at school, but he seemed nice and Ryou wouldn't like someone who was awful.  
Heero turned completely away from Duo and addressed Trowa, instead. "What do you know about Operation Meteor?"

"You're sure you want Duo to hear this?"

"He'll find out anyway. He's too clever for his own good."

Duo scowled. "I'm still in the room, guys."

Trowa continued as if Duo hadn't said anything. "As you wish, Heero. I am 03." This seemed to have meant something to Heero, whose eyebrows raised only slightly. "04 has vanished. Information is limited as to why 04 has vanished. I am ordered to find 04 at all costs, I was given the orders just before reaching Earth two days ago. You are to help. Get confirmation from doctor J if you need them."

**Heero-**

Heero nodded and pulled a tiny cell phone out of an inner pocket of his pants. He dialed quickly and the phone only rang once before the familiar voice rasped out, "Yes?"

"03 has contacted me. Orders."

"Find 04." Doctor J ordered without hesitation. "03's trainer has been communication with me, everything is in order. 05 was ordered to help find 04, but has refused this order for unknown reasons. Find the missing pilot."

"Mission accepted." Heero was about to hang up the phone when doctor J asked,

"Before you go, Heero, tell me about your current mission."

Heero remained silent.

"You have not reported in for many days and I wondered if you'd managed to find Hiro in all this time."

Heero walked to the door that separated them from the rest of the room and peered out. Seiji sat on a bed with Ryou at his side, sitting very closely together. The two sat with three others Heero didn't know and the four men and Seiji's sister had gone out into the garden.

It made Heero angry that Ryou sat so close to Seiji, but there was little he could do about it. They spoke with their friends for a moment and Heero watched Seiji take Ryou away somewhere so the others could talk privately.

Ryou's innocent expression and pretty face only fueled the boiling blood to surge in Heero's veins. Heero struggled to find a name for this emotion. He knew love (he loved his friend Seiji), he knew sadness (when he'd seen the students in the school yard and realized he'd never be normal), he knew fear (that night when the soldier's had come into his and Seiji's room...) but this was something new. When he looked at Ryou, Heero wanted to pull out his gun and just blow Ryou's little head off his shoulders.

Hate.

Yes, Heero hated Ryou for no better reason than that he had Seiji's good favor. If things had just been a little different, it would be Heero that Seiji looked at so fondly. Then again, if things had been different, Heero wouldn't have met Duo. Heero looked over at the still very confused Duo with such bright eyes and the beautiful, flawless face. The sunny laugh and the fact of how Duo could turn cold blooded at a moment's notice were very attractive to Heero.

"Heero? Are you there?" Doctor J's voice rang in his ear, bringing him back to his responsibility. "What has happened to Hiro?"

"Hiro is dead." Heero said, not hesitating.

"Excellent. Move to your next mission and find 04."

Heero turned the phone off and slowly put it back. He'd never lied before. Never directly and never to doctor J. A sudden feeling of lightheadedness overtook Heero, like he was flying. Freedom! It wasn't exactly a lie, though. Hiro was a trained killer, a machine that had no emotions. Seiji was the person outside, walking toward the decrepit dojo with Ryou and a large tiger at his side. Seiji had clearly held onto his humanity better than Heero had managed to.

Hiro is dead. Long live Seiji.

Heero got his mind back to his new mission and turned back to Trowa. "We will look for 04. Do you know what he looks like?" Heero had known that there were other pilots being trained as he and Seiji were, but he'd never been allowed to meet any of them. Doctor J had feared that it would distract Heero from his training.

"Yes. He was keeping Shin safe for me, but disappeared mysteriously only a day or so ago."

Duo leaned against a wall. "I'm still confused. What's going on..." He got no further when he stiffened and his lavender eyes grew wide. "Oh, dear." He said quietly, going quite pale. "Oh, this is not good, not good at all." Heero and Trowa both stepped toward him, but Duo rushed passed them to the window. The sky, Heero noticed for the first time, had gone quite dark. Nearly black, in fact. "We're in trouble." Duo whispered, getting down on his knees in front of the window. He was actually trembling with fear.

"What are you doing?" Heero asked. This didn't seem like usual behavior for Duo. Duo reached up and grabbed both Heero and Trowa by the fronts of their shirts and pulled them down beside him, showing off greater strength than Heero would have thought Duo had.

"Don't say a word, don't breath unless it's absolutely necessary." Duo told them, very seriously even as he raised himself up just enough to peer through the window. Heero and Trowa did the same, unable to bear the idea of a threat they couldn't see. "We don't want it to know we're here." Heero saw Duo's four older brothers standing very stiffly as if they were in formation.

"It?" Heero asked in a whisper.

"I...I don't know what it is. I just know it's very bad, very evil."

Heero looked at Duo and the odd tone. His voice had changed slightly, back into the experienced fighter Heero had encountered in the alley when he'd woken up. Not the insane maniac, thankfully, but someone cold and used to the seriousness of fighting. Heero wasn't sure he liked this aspect of Duo's personality. He rather liked Duo smiling and happy.

In the garden Sh'ten, Anubisu, Rajura, and Naaza all stood at silent attention. Right arms were crossed over their chests in a salute and their heads were bowed. Above the four men, in the darkened sky, appeared a large pink mask with floating white hair all around it, throwing what little remained of Heero's sanity out of the window. He didn't believe in magic of any sort, yet… there it was. Heero wanted to ask Duo about this thing, but Duo still looked grim as he listened to the conversation going on outside.

Across the courtyard garden, in the dojo, Heero saw, over the edge of the window, brilliant gold hair along side dark black hair. The other two were listening and Heero wondered if the others in the house had noticed the visitor outside.

**Sh'ten-**

Sh'ten and his brothers had been cornered in the neglected garden by the little woman, Noin. Noin was looking at Anubisu like a wolf who'd scented prey, with a hunger in her eyes that had nothing to do with food. She wanted something and she wouldn't stop until she'd gotten what she wanted. Surprisingly, Noin had grabbed Anubisu by the arms, completely unafraid of him. "Tell me who took my brother."

Anubisu opened his mouth, then froze. They could all feel Arago's presence making itself known and Anubisu said quietly to Noin, "Go back inside. Do not let the children come outside, whatever happens."

"Why?" Noin looked around, trying to find the source of danger. "What's going on? All I want is one name, is that too much to ask?"

"This is no time for questions, do as you're told." With a rough shove, he propelled her towards the door of her home. "No matter what you hear do not come out, you will be killed if he sees you."

Noin gave him a suspicious look, but did as she was told. For a moment, Sh'ten had been sure she wasn't going to do it, but once inside, she closed the doors firmly behind her.

They tried to calm themselves, getting ready for the visit that had been inevitable. They had hoped that he would forget about them for a little while, but it was a faint hope. LET ME EXPLAIN. Sh'ten told his brothers and everyone nodded in agreement. As their general, it was Sh'ten's place to speak with their master.

High overhead, the clear sky darkened, black clouds appearing as if from nowhere, and blotting out the sun. They all looked up at the clouds, expectantly and prayed Noin would do her part to keep the children inside the house where they might be safe. Only a moment passed before the despised voice of Arago could be heard, echoing around them.

"My Ma-Sho," The mask of Arago appeared, ghost-like, as usual, in the sky, looking down at the warriors. "Why have you not reported in?"

Sh'ten stepped forward, and bowed with one arm across his chest, touching his shoulder. "Master..."

**Ryou-**

Seiji led Ryou out the back door of his house to where the dojo stood and then inside the ancient seeming building. Seiji went to a wall display of many different kinds of weapons and Ryou thought about the huge change that had taken over his life. Strangely, he found that he really didn't mind.

_I wish that I could still feel them all in my head, like before._ It had been sort of comforting to know he wasn't alone. Byakuen's large head rubbed against Ryou's leg and he smiled, reaching down to pat the affectionate tiger. "Yeah, I wasn't alone, was I? I had you, after all." Byakuen sat at Ryou's side, silent as he usually was and Ryou had to wonder again, where did Byakuen come from? The dream had seemed so real, the one just before he'd woken up.

A man, with bright green hair, had let Ryou sleep on his hard, warm bed because Ryou was so cold. It had been a dream, though. Not real. Except that the man with green hair happened to be out in the garden with Seiji's sister. He'd been there when Ryou woke up, looking down at Ryou with his purple lidded eyes.

Unfortunately, that was all of the dream that Ryou could remember. When he'd woken up Seiji had been dressed in weird green yoroi along with two strangers. One of them had been the red headed guy he remember from that fancy party Noin had brought them to, but there was also a green haired guy who seemed to know Ryou. Then there was Duo who insisted that he was Ryou's brother and said that these strange guys raised us both. Even Seiji, Xiu, and Touma said they remembered Duo as Ryou's brother. _So why can't I remember him?_

Seiji chose two wooden swords, bokten's, off the wall display. One he handed to Ryou and the other one he took for himself. "Will you spar with me, Ryou?"

Ryou smiled and was going to say yes, when he got a sudden chill. Seiji must have felt it, too, because they both looked at the window at the same time. The four strangers, the ones who said they were Ryou's brothers, were standing stiffly. Their heads lowered in a slight bows, except for Sh'ten who had bowed low at the waist and was now staring at the ground, as if he didn't dare to look up.

Something told Ryou that they shouldn't go out there. Something horribly evil was out there and Ryou definitely didn't want to meet it. Seiji and Ryou quietly crept to the window and knelt down on the floor so they could peek over the edge and not be seen.

"Master, we are coming to report immediately, of course." Sh'ten said, his voice sounded slimier than it had before, more of a groveling submissiveness.

Ryou couldn't see whom Sh'ten's talking to, but a very loud voice answered, "See that you do, Sh'ten. I will be expecting you shortly."

Ryou's breath caught._ I know that voice!_ Ryou carefully moved around Seiji to get a look at whatever was talking. Filling the sky, swirling with black clouds, was a bodiless mask with a wicked looking helmet and wild tendrils of hair swirling around the mask. Ryou felt his heart stop for just a moment and his blood go cold.

"Ryou?" Seiji was shaking Ryou's arm slightly.

"I...I know that thing." Ryou raised a shaking finger, pointing at the demon. Memories broke through the barrier that had been put in his mind by the monk. "Arago." Sudden images invaded Ryou's mind, memories of running through the plains of the Youja-Kai, learning to fight from his beloved brothers, that demon trying to kill Duo while he slept. _Oh, please, this can't be happening!_

The sense of evil slowly vanished when the mask disappeared and the sky went back to normal. When it had completely gone, the four men, Ryou's family, stood up straight and looked at each other grimly.

Ryou stood up slowly, looking at his brothers. They served that thing. They wanted Ryou to serve it, that thing that tried to kill Duo. _Never!_ Ryou had never been so angry in his life and the fire inside of him wanted to get out badly. They saw the thing trying to kill Duo and they were STILL serving it? How could they!

The fire built in Ryou's mind and it was then that he saw it, red yoroi with two swords standing in front of him. CALL TO ME, MY SOUL. CALL AND I WILL GIVE YOU MY STRENGTH. BUSSO REKKA.

"Busso Rekka." Ryou whispered and he knew it was the right choice. He wouldn't let that demon thing have Duo and Ryou knew he'd need all the strength he could get to fight it. Red light flared around Ryou for a moment and he could see Seiji watching without expression. After it was done they both turned silently back to the scene outside.

The four men were all staring at where Seiji and Ryou now stood at the window. Rajura took one look at Ryou and closed his eye, concentrating. Ryou felt the touch of another person in his mind and knew without a doubt that Rajura was fiddling about in his head. Ryou tried to shout out to him to keep out of his mind, but a sudden pressure and Ryou felt like he was naked in front of a hundred staring people. So...vulnerable.

Seiji had grabbed Ryou and held him up when his legs would have failed, his hands were so cool against Ryou's skin, yet Ryou felt like he was burning at Seiji's touch. Ryou looked up and heard,  
RYOU, IT'LL BE ALL RIGHT.

SEIJI? Seiji just looked at Ryou with his icy lavender eye and Ryou knew him as surely as he knew himself. It was sort of like the first time they'd touched and all their memories had merged together, but now, it was slightly different. In the mix, Ryou could feel another person. So sad and scared at having his yoroi interrupt his life. Ryou could see this third person's family that he left behind and the children who had left this world.

XIU?

YEAH, Xiu replied. I'M HERE, RYOU. WEIRD, ISN'T IT? DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT, SEIJI AND I ARE ALREADY SORT OF USED TO IT. SO, YOU KNOW WHAT THAT THING WAS? Xiu sent Ryou an image of Arago that he'd seen from the windows of the room where he still was with Shin and Touma.

YEAH.

But before Ryou could say more, Naaza said, "Come out, I think we should explain a few things. We have a crisis that needs to be taken care of."

**Elsewhere-  
Zechs-**

Zechs and Trieze were walking to Noin's home, the one she'd moved back into when her brother had come back, seemingly from the dead. They'd all assumed that Seiji had died when he vanished for so many years and for him to turn up on the doorstep of their old house was something of a miracle.

Zechs hadn't seen Noin so happy in years, even if she had recently become rather obsessive about her computer. It was understandable. After all she was looking for the one who'd taken Seiji.  
They were going to check on their friend and make sure that she was all right with her unusual house guests. Even though she'd assured them over the phone that she was fine and that her guests had been perfect gentlemen - for the most part - the two still tended to worry about her.

Zechs' mind was brought back to the present by a hacking cough at his side and he turned to look at his companion. "Are you all right, Trieze?" Since they'd left Trieze's mansion that morning, Zechs had noticed his friend looking paler than normal and coughing every so often.

No one who saw them would have recognized the two as they walked casually down the streets. Trieze was wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses to hide his face. He was also in his most grubby sweat suit, the one that had paint splatters all over the front of it. Zechs had his long hair in a ponytail and wore black jeans with a black tank top shirt. Around his neck, Zechs wore a half a dozen silver chains that Trieze had talked him into wearing. No one even took a second look at them and this was sort of the point. Neither man wanted the outside world to know to much about their personal lives.

Trieze nodded at Zech's concerned question while he coughed, finally wiping his mouth with his handkerchief when the coughing fit had subsided. "I haven't been feeling well for a couple of days"  
Zechs frowned. "You didn't say anything at the party." It was almost an accusation. Trieze normally told him everything and for him not to was unusual.

Trieze gave Zechs a sly leer. "Well, I was rather preoccupied at the party, in case you don't remember."

Zechs looked away, blushing furiously. How could he forget something like that? He'd pounced Trieze the minute he'd had the chance, with a little encouragement from Noin, only to be horribly interrupted.

"Don't look so embarrassed." Trieze told him, still smiling. "I enjoyed it, didn't you?"

"Um...well, yes. Anyway," Zechs tried to change the subject quickly, before he died from a nosebleed the memory was giving him. "Have you seen your doctor? Is it just a cold?"

"My old doctor retired, but Lady Une suggested a new one. He seems competent."

Before their conversation could go any further, Zechs happened to look up. "What's all that?" He pointed in the direction just over Noin's house, where they were headed. Thick black clouds formed from out of nowhere, growing to a ridiculous size.

"Fire?" Trieze suggested, though he didn't sound like he believed it. No fire would leave the smoke so concentrated over just Noin's house. Without another word, both men took off running to their friend's house to see what was going on.

**Rajura-**

TELL THEM. Sh'ten ordered telepathically while they all stood in Seiji's home with all the children looking at the Ma-Sho expectantly.

WHY DO I HAVE TO DO IT? Rajura complained.

BECAUSE YOU'RE THE TEACHER, REMEMBER? Anubisu teased. I THOUGHT YOU LIKED TEACHING.

Rajura snarled at him before and turning to the boys who were looking at them with mixed emotions, confusion and suspicion, along with hope. Everyone had seen Arago appearing in the sky and heard what he'd said to the Ma-Sho. Unfortunate for the Ma-Sho as they'd wanted to tell the boys themselves.

Ryou was standing away from them, a betrayed and angry look on his face, and still in his full yoroi. He'd refused to take it off. Seiji stood at his side, as usual, but Ryou hardly seemed to see him. Now, three of them had the yoroi, leaving only Shin and Touma to get theirs. That meant we were still in danger until those two got their yoroi and the Elemental Yoroi would be at their strongest.

Well, no better time than the present. "Sit down, children." Rajura said loudly. They all looked at Rajura, somewhat surprised. "Sit down, we won't begin the lesson until you are all seated."

"What lesson?" Touma asked even as he sat back down on the bed. They'd all gone back into the large room, where Seiji and Ryou had been sleeping, for the explanations.

Once everyone was seated, Rajura began. "Let me first welcome you all into our family. We are very pleased to have you. I want you to pay attention as I hate repeating myself." Rajura waited until they'd quieted down. "Allow me to explain." Rajura did his best to tell them everything, baring what they was trying to hide from Arago. Rajura couldn't say that sort of thing out loud, or Arago might hear. "First off, as soon as the yoroi comes to you, you will become ageless and bound to each other for all time. I do hope you can get along together as nothing can change that aspect of your new lives."

The boys all looked at each other, uncertainly.

"The yoroi you will receive will give you all tremendous power, we'll help you learn to use them, if you like, and we'll demonstrate our power at a later time. I have no idea what sort of power you will have. You are the first to bear the Elemental Yoroi, so there is no telling what you will be able to do. The being you saw outside was our master, Emperor Arago, lord of the Youja-Kai. He is the one you will be expected to serve, also."

Shin raised his hand like he was in school.

"Yes, Shin?"

"Do we have to? I really didn't like the way that thing felt." He did look quite unhappy with the idea; all of them did, which only proves that they have good sense.

"I'm afraid so. There really is no choice. Look on the bright side, when we conquer the Ningen-Sekai, you'll pretty much be able to do anything you like." It was a lie, but necessary. They couldn't tell the children the truth without risk of Arago overhearing and punishing them or worse.

Touma cleared his throat before asking, "What, exactly, is the yoroi?"

Rajura looked at Sh'ten as this is his area of expertise. He didn't move from where he was standing, but said, "We're not entirely sure. From the study I've been able to do, I know that the yoroi was created from Arago."

Xiu started at this. "What? You mean that...that thing made this?" He looked at Ryou's yoroi and was no doubt thinking of his own.

"Yes," Sh'ten answered. "It was created from his own body. You must remember, though, most of the information I have comes from Arago, himself, so we can't be to sure of how accurate it is. The yoroi have great power individually, but I have found rumors and hints say, when all the yoroi are gathered together they can be joined for a purpose the power can be magnified several fold. Arago refuses to answer any questions about this, so I can't be more specific."

Ryou stepped forward, his eyes narrowed, showing how terribly angry he was. Naaza touched Rajura's mind warningly, WE DID SOMETHING JUST BEFORE OUR MEMORIES GOT WIPED AND I THINK HE'S SEEING US AS ENEMIES, NOW. BE CAREFUL, WE TRAINED HIM VERY WELL.

Ryou asked bitterly, "Why was Arago trying to kill Duo?"

"I'd like to know that, too." Duo said, twisting his braid in his hands. He'd come back with Heero and Trowa and the three mortals stood in a corner when Rajura had started trying to explain everything. "All I can remember is you guys telling Ryou that you had something for him to see, then you," He pointed at Rajura, "Reached out and I think you touched me. When I woke up, Ryou was going nuts and there was fire everywhere. That demon was in the room with us and he was trying to kill me. Then I was in the Ningen-Sekai, again. What was that all about?"

"I honestly can't remember." Rajura told them. It was true, even though Naaza was, at that moment, telling them all exactly what had happened.

"I won't do it." Ryou growled. "I don't care what you say, I won't do it!"

"What?" Sh'ten asked, stepping forward.

"I won't serve that monster that tried to kill Duo! He's evil and I'll kill him the first chance I get!" Ryou's hands flew over his shoulder and grabbed the swords that hung on his back. He drew them quickly and held the swords in front of him to show he was willing to fight us here and now. Well, Rajura had to admire Ryou's spirit. Still, Sh'ten never could stand anyone questioning his authority.

"You will do as you are told, boy. You don't have a choice in this matter." Sh'ten didn't bother to draw his weapons, no matter how good this child was, he was no match for Sh'ten's experience.  
Ryou asked, "What about Kay? Where is she or have you abandoned her, too?" He was still very angry, but he makes no further move to attack or threaten. It's a good decision on Ryou's part as Anubisu had moved to stand near enough to Ryou that he could easily tackle the boy to the ground and secure him, if necessary.

It was Naaza who jumped forward. "We have abandoned no one! Kay was taken from us just as you were. We don't even have a way of finding her. Put your swords away, Ryou, we aren't your enemies."

_Kay must be the third child, the little girl, we've been looking for._ Rajura thought, his mind going back to the half-painting picture Naaza had shown him and he thought about the little girl with long black hair.

Ryou opened his mouth, but before he could talk, the argument was interrupted by a loud buzzing. Touma's hand went to his pocket and he pulled out a small...thing. What was that thing?

Touma spoke into it, "Yes? Rashid, it's good to hear from you, sir, but I've having some problems right now... what? What do you mean he's been kidnapped!" Touma's voice raised to a high pitched scream. Touma seems to have forgotten all about everything else and he nearly ran to Noin's computer. "Excuse me, ma'am, but I have to borrow this for a minute." He started to tap on it, making the image on the box change and words appear. After only a moment, a picture appeared, some child with blood all over him, and Touma dropped the thing he'd been talking into in his shock.

"Kitty." Touma mumbled in shock.

The boy on the screen was in horrible condition, parts of his skin ripped away and general marks showing that he'd been beaten. Sh'ten, as usual, was untouched by the signs of torture and asked, "Who is this child?"

"My brother." Touma answered through clenched teeth. On the screen the boy was being held upright by large, beefy hands though the faces of these people were out of sight.

An unseen person said, "We are looking for Trowa Barton. He was seen in the company of this boy and we'd very much like to see him again. We will be contacting you soon and you had better be able to tell us where Trowa is unless you want this poor kid to die. He may die anyway, but I can make it very painful. Imagine my surprise when I looked through this kid's wallet and found out he was none other than the Winner heir? How nice that his family will be able to pay for his hospital bills if he survives. That also means that, of course, they'll be able to pay his ransom. I want Trowa as ransom and a mere two million dollars. That's not too much to ask, is it? I sure hope not, this kid doesn't look too well. We will call back in one hour, unless, of course, the little Quatre dies first." The voice laughed unpleasantly.

The image froze, apparently the message was over, and Touma was shaking violently as he stood. Touma backed away from the screen with the blonde boy's face frozen on it. Staring at the face of his brother for several tense seconds, Touma went still very suddenly.

"Busso Tenku." Dark blue light surrounded Touma and then Tenku was on Touma. The helmet of the yoroi was tall and conical and a collapsible bow was on his back along with a quiver. Touma almost didn't seem to notice his transformation at all and his eyes slowly turned to focus on Trowa. "You!" Touma hissed hatefully, taking one step toward Trowa.

Shin instantly stepped between them. "It's not Trowa's fault! He only met Quatre because he was trying to help me and he only got those mercenaries angry because of me. If you're going to blame anyone, blame me!" He stared defiantly at Touma, daring him to attack.

Trowa, though, gently moved Shin aside, out of Touma's path. "I can fight for myself." He said softly and faced Touma.

Touma looked as though he'd attack, but then took a deep, ragged breath. "We need a plan." Touma turned his back on Trowa. Rajura could tell that Shin and Xiu were both surprised at Touma's reaction. It was like they hadn't expected him to be so rational.

"I can find him. The voice on the message was Mayers, a former associate." Trowa said, cold as ice. "How did you get this image?"

Touma replied, as calmly as he could. "It was emailed to my home and my foster dad sent it here. He's on the warpath and if he finds whoever took Kitty before I do, there won't be enough of them left for the police to identify." He gave a dark look to the screen. "If I find him first, this Mayers guy will wish Rashid had found him."

Trowa examined the email for a short while, motioned for Heero to join him, and together the two of them silently worked out the source for where this message had come from.

When they'd finished, Trowa looked at Heero and said, sounding very sure of himself, "04."

Heero examined the information and the nightmare image of Quatre's face. "You're sure"

Trowa nodded.

Then Heero turned and looked at the rest of the room. "The email was sent from an OZ warehouse approximately seventy-eight miles due east."

Noin blurted out, "OZ?" Everyone looked at her, knowing full well what uniform she was wearing at that very moment. The uniform that she was very proud of. "No," She shook her head. "Trieze wouldn't do anything like that. I know he's done some questionable things in the past, but he'd never stoop to kidnapping a child!"

Xiu stood up, "Lady, don't give me that! Your OZ destroyed an entire colony, or didn't you hear about A0206?" He said bitterly. "Nearly my entire family died there and I saw the OZ mobile suits, so don'ttell melies about OZ!"

Noin tried to keep calm. "There was a mistake."

"A mistake!" Xiu shouted, losing his temper entirely. "How many thousands of people died for that mistake!"

"I don't know who ordered it, but it was NOT Trieze!" Noin shouted back at Xiu. "I never said OZ was all fun and happiness, but there would be no reason for OZ to kidnap that child and torture him just to get their hands on him!" She pointed a finger at Trowa. "Unless he's involved in something..." She turned a questioning look to Trowa.

"They want me because I was once apart of their mercenary group. I decided to leave and in doing so, I humiliated Mayers by beating him in a fight. He just wants revenge." Trowa replied with a perfectly straight face. "I am not involved in anything against OZ."

Shin, this time, looked at Quatre's unconscious face and put a finger on the image of Quatre's cheek. "They're doing this just for revenge against a little embarrassment. That night in the street"  
Trowa nodded, causing Shin to wail, "Then this is all my fault."

"What?" Touma asked, confused about Shin's change in attitude.

"Trowa didn't embarrass them, I did. They got me angry and I beat a couple of them up. I'm so sorry, Touma!" Shin threw himself into Touma's stunned arms. "But they were going to kill Trowa and they killed my fish and I just couldn't stand it!" He was sobbing uncontrollably into Touma's now thoroughly soaked shoulder.

Sh'ten leaned over to Naaza. "Are you sure he's one of us?"

Naaza only shrugged. "He's still a child, give him a break, 'Ten-chan."

Touma patted Shin's back, comfortingly. He was, it seemed, more willing to forgive Shin that Trowa. "Don't worry, Shin. I'm sure Kitty's all right. He's a lot tougher than he looks, trust me."

Rajura had no idea what they are talking about and, though mortal matters really didn't concern him, Rajura had to admit that he was curious. The boy who'd been tortured could not have been more than sixteen. Rajura's instincts were screaming, telling him that there was a mystery, a secret someone wasn't telling him. _I do love solving mysteries._

Another mystery was why Arago hadn't been able to detect the yoroi. He was the one who had told them that the children were waking up, so why didn't he know that they'd found the children? Perhaps there was more going on in the Youja-Kai than they'd thought. Maybe Arago had been distracted by something.

Sh'ten motioned at Rajura suddenly, a hand sign that told Rajura to cast an illusion around everyone, something to hide them from Arago. It wasn't very difficult, just a shield so they could talk freely for a few moments.

**Sh'ten-**

"We are planning a rebellion against Arago. We are going to kill him once we have all the yoroi together, but we still have to wait for Shin's to come to him. In the mean time, we wanted to find the memories Arago took from us." Sh'ten looked at Ryou and Duo. "We don't have the power to defeat him alone, but with all of us together, we might stand a chance."

"Without Yoroi, no mortal can survive in the Youja-Kai, now that you have the yoroi, Touma, you can come with us to Youja Kai and search for Kay."

"No."

"What?" Sh'ten was not used to such disobedience and he really didn't like it.

Touma told him stubbornly. "I'm going to find Kitty."

"I'm going with Touma." Shin said. "I wouldn't be any use in that demon world, anyway. Besides, I feel guilty. It's partly my fault that Quatre's been hurt.

Sh'ten, knowing that he couldn't change Touma's mind, sighed. "Fine. You go with Naaza to look for the boy. I am going to face Arago and try to pacify him. When I open the gateway, I want the rest of you to go through and see if you can find Kay. Naaza remembers her being sent to a different part of the Youja-Kai, so she must be there somewhere. If we all pass through the gate together, Arago shouldn't be able to tell that you've even crossed the gateway. I'll just tell him you're still in the Ningen-Sekai looking for the yoroi."

Rajura frowned. "We are together in this, Sh'ten. We will face him together or not at all. There's no need to separate us."

Sh'ten scowled at his eldest brother. "I am the general, Rajura. Do not forget that. I take responsibility for our actions and I will take punishment for us."

"We don't need your protection, 'Ten-chan." Naaza told him, sounding angry. "We are all warriors."

"You forget your place!" Sh'ten snapped, irritably, before he started to bark orders at Naaza. "You are to stay with Touma and Shin and keep them out of harms way. You," He pointed at Anubisu and Rajura, "Will go to the Youja-Kai and search for the girl, Kay."

"You're not going to change your mind, are you?" Naaza asked, subdued. "You know he's going to punish you. He'll make you suffer for all of us."

"That is my responsibility. We've been gone too long and he's angry. We should have reported in days ago. We all knew it would come to this when we didn't report to him."

Another moment of silence, tense as everyone knew what Sh'ten was facing. "You're our general, Oni." Rajura grabbed Sh'ten in a tight hug. "We need you, so make sure you come back to us."

"I promise." Sh'ten returned the embrace. "I will always come back to you."

"He won't kill you." Anubisu said, trying to sound certain. "You're too valuable as a bearer of the Yoroi."

Sh'ten shook his head. "No one is indispensable. He wants only the yoroi, not us. We've known that for a long time."

Anubisu swallowed hard. "I think I know how I can get my memory back."

Everyone turned to him. "Just give me a few minutes." He turned and walked out of the room, a silent request for Byakuen to follow him. Ryou didn't even try to stop Byakuen as he walked out with Anubisu. Something made Ryou understand that this was important.

**Byakuen-**

Byakuen and Anubisu went to one of the other rooms and Anubisu closed the door, giving them needed privacy. Byakuen knew what Anubisu wanted and how much it would cost them both. The human sat crossed-legged in front of Byakuen before he made his request. "I need my memories. How can I be of any use unless I can remember?" He told Byakuen. "Will you let me drink your blood."

'This will hurt us.' Byakuen reminded Anubisu. 'And it will cost you more than pain, in the end.'

Anubisu nodded. "I understand, but I must do this. I want to know my family again. Will you help me?"

How could Byakuen deny him? Anubisu would help Ryou and bring Byakuen back to his brother in the end. Byakuen nod and slowly approached Anubisu. Anubisu had always been close to Byakuen, the Ma-Sho who reveled in nature even as his yoroi compelled him to kill. Anubisu was not a hateful man, but one who does as his nature compelled him to. He enjoyed the cold of winter, though in Youja-Kai, there is no winter. No season of any kind, just a stillness that made it seem as if nothing ever changed.

Byakuen sniffed near Anubisu's neck, breathing in the heavy scent of this man he'd known all of his life. Anubisu had been there when Byakuen and Kokuen-Oh had been born to the tiger-like demon and he was the one who fed them after their mother had left them. How much Byakuen owed this man could never be repaid and never be counted. He had given Ryou, the joy of Byakuen's life, to him when he was a cub.

Byakuen licked Anubisu's throat, trying to numb the skin at least a little before he did what had to be done. It won't help much, but maybe a little. Anubisu closed his eyes and Byakuen took Anubisu's neck in his jaws. Being as gentle as he could, Byakuen broke Anubisu's skin and let his blood run down his neck and onto the floor.

Anubisu gasped and clutched at Byakuen's ruff, trying not to cry out. Byakuen lowered Anubisu to the floor, his neck still in Byakuen's mouth. Anubisu was growing weaker, his color fading even more than was natural for him. As soon as he was safely on the floor, Byakuen released his neck and put his own throat near Anubisu's face. Anubisu's had lost enough of the polluted blood, now he needed fresh blood to cleanse him of the pollution from that demon.

Byakuen told him, 'Now, Anubisu. You must do it, now'

Anubisu heard and bared his fangs. Small though they were compared to Byakuen's, Anubisu's fangs were enough to bite deep into the tiger's throat. Byakuen could barely feel it, at first, but while Anubisu let his own blood leak onto the floor, he was drinking Byakuen's blood. Sucking the blood out of the wound he'd created, Anubisu's tongue lapped at Byakuen's fur to get as much of the blood as he could to replace what he'd lost.

Byakuen was fine for a while, but then started to feel weakened. Finally, he had to lay down and let Anubisu drink from him like a newborn cub suckling from its mother. It seemed like forever until Anubisu pulled away from Byakuen and Byakuen found that he couldn't find the strength to even stand.

Anubisu still sat by Byakuen's side on his knees and carefully licked the blood from his lips. "Thank you." He told Byakuen, and kissed the wound on his neck, making it heal almost instantly. "Your pure blood has healed me, Byakuen. I am honored and I have my memory back. Don't worry, I'll find Kokuen-Oh and tell him that you're worried about him." He stood and Byakuen saw that the wound on Anubisu's neck that he'd made had healed completely. "I'll tell Ryou that you want to stay here and take care of that girl, Noin. He'll understand, I think."

With that, Anubisu left Byakuen to recuperate and he went back to the others. It shouldn't take long. In the past when Kokuen-Oh or Byakuen had given blood for Anubisu, they had healed rather quickly. Even now, Byakuen could feel the small wound at his throat sealing itself. With Byakuen's blood Anubisu was able to shake off the demon's influence and know himself again. 'I'm glad,' Byakeun thought as he lay down his head to sleep. 'But it's a pity that this may change him.'

**Noin-**

Noin watched it all, keeping herself quiet and in the background. Her logical mind insisted that none of it could be real, but she'd seen it with her own eyes. It was real and Seiji was a part of something far bigger and more dangerous than she'd imagined.

They, all but Shin, all filed out into the garden and changed into their heavy yoroi, calling out the words that brought the yoroi to them. Noin didn't like the sound of this yoroi very much. The way they talked about it, made it sound alive. That was just too weird to think about.

Trowa was going with Touma and Shin to lead them to the OZ base. Noin had to say that she was not at all sure she should be letting them go, but what could she do? Noin had seen the boy, Quatre, and she just couldn't let him stay a prisoner or die. If OZ really had authorized this, then Noin knew she'd be handing in her resignation very, very soon.

Xiu was torn as to where he should go. He wanted to go help save Quatre and make sure Touma and Shin were safe, but there was another child lost in a world of demons and they really needed his help. In the end, Touma had managed to persuade Xiu that he should go to rescue the little girl, Kay. They insisted that they could find Quatre easily and, with Trowa and Naaza to help, the rescue should be easy.

A minor argument came when Duo moved to stand with the armored men who were going to the Youja-Kai. "You can't come." Sh'ten told Duo firmly.

Duo looked at him annoyed. "Why not, Mama Sh'ten?"

"You don't have any protection. I just said no normal mortal could survive the Youja-Kai. Weren't you listening?"

Duo put his hands on his hips. "I lived there for years, I think I know my way around! Kay is my sister, too, and I won't be left out just because you can't remember that I do actually know how to survive."

Sh'ten sighed. "If you get yourself killed, boy, don't come crying to me."

"You got it, Mama Sh'ten. Are you coming Heero?"

Heero paused and looked at Trowa. "You can rescue 04?"

Trowa nodded confidently.

"I will go with you, Duo." Heero went to stand with Duo. He gave no explanations as to why he was coming. He had no real connection with the Youja-Kai, but he'd made up his mind and Sh'ten seemed tired of arguing with foolish mortals.

As Noin thought of Seiji, she looked at the Ma-Sho, making plans for their subterfuge and return to a placed called Youja-Kai. Anubisu had earlier made the off hand comment that he knew who'd hurt Noin's dear baby brother only about an hour ago and now he wanted to leave without tell her everything? No way!

Noin turned to Anubisu, just went he came out of the room he'd gone into with Ryou's tiger friend, before the man could go outside with his friends.

"What?" Anubisu asked, apparently uncomfortable with how forward Noin was.

"You said you know who took Seiji. Tell me now! No more delays or I'll lose my mind." Noin said to Anubisu, shaking her finger under his nose.

"I know who trained Heero, anyway. I had a job interview to train a boy. They showed me Heero through a one way mirror so I could get a look at him." Anubisu shook his head. "Now that guy was one crazy loon. I believe he's the one who probably had your brother."

Noin grabbed Anubisu's arm urgently. "Give me a name."

"I believe he said his name was doctor Jurad."

Noin quickly sat at her computer and started tapping. After a few minutes, she sat back with a defeated look on her face. "No good. It must have been an alias. I can't find anyone named doctor Jurad."

"Why don't you go by physical description? There can't be too many mortals with a mechanical arm, after all."

Noin blinked. "A mechanical arm? What else do you remember?"

Anubisu gave her a frown, insulted. "Everything, of course. It was only a few years ago. He was about fifty years old, five foot four inches tall, shoulder length white hair, and a long mustache. He also never took off a pair of goggles." Anubisu broke off suddenly, noticing that Noin was giggling and tapping at her computer. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. Just fine." She said, still giggling. "Does this guy look familiar?" She pointed at the screen and Anubisu saw the face of a man with darker hair, but still very familiar.

"Yeah, that's him." Anubisu nodded. "You'll excuse me, miss, but I really must be going." He left the room to where the others were waiting for him outside. Noin followed solemnly and went straight to Seiji. He, naturally, decided to go with Ryou to the Youja-Kai and looked for the missing little girl. The two were rarely separated since they'd met and Noin knew she'd better get used to having Ryou around as it looked like he wasn't going anywhere soon.

Noin worried about Heero almost as much as she did Seiji. The two had gotten the same training as children, but Heero seemed to have been more deeply wounded than Seiji. Still, Duo had attached himself rather firmly to Heero so maybe Duo would be able to help Heero as Ryou had helped Seiji.

Trowa, Shin, Touma, and Naaza all left in search of that poor boy, Quatre. Naaza left only after kissing Sh'ten passionately and saying, "Don't die, 'Ten-chan. I can't live without you."

"Seiji," Noin went to her brother and took him in her arms. "I don't really know what's going on, but please be careful. I just got you back, I don't want to lose you, now"

Seiji leaned down and kissed her cheek. "I don't understand everything, either, but I will be careful."

Sh'ten raised his arms and in Noin's garden appeared a large set of red lacquer doors. A wave of his hands and the doors slowly creaked open. As one, they all stepped through and the doors suddenly vanished leaving Noin alone in her garden.

"Please, any god that's listening, take care of Seiji. I just can't lose him again." With that prayer, Noin went back into her home to wait for Zechs and Trieze. They'd promised to come visit today and she had big news to tell them. On her computer was the face of the man who'd taken Seiji and done God knows what to him. Noin smiled at the picture. "Just a little while and I'll have you."

**Trieze-**

By the time they'd arrived at Noin's house, the black clouds that had alarmed them both had vanished as mysteriously as they'd appeared. The house was very quiet and when they knocked Trieze was surprised to have the door answered by a large white tiger. Oh, yes. Byakuen. Byakuen stared at them for a minute, as if trying to remember who they were and then stepped aside for Trieze and Zechs to enter.

_What a curious beast._ Trieze thought. Trieze rather thought he was more intelligent than most tigers.

Zechs and Trieze walked into the house and Noin tried very hard to control herself. Unfortunately, it wasn't working very well. When her two friends walked in, she was laughing maniacally. Trieze raised an eyebrow and Zechs wondered what had happened to Noin.

Noin jumped up from her computer and screamed triumphantly. "I found him! I found him! I found him!"

Trieze watched, amused, while Noin danced madly around the room. She stopped in front of him, grabbed the lapels off his coat and pulled him down, kissing him hard on the lips. Then she was gone; wrapping her arms around the stunned Zechs' throat and pulled him down for a passionate kiss, too.

Noin danced around the room once she'd released Zechs and pranced around the room singing, "I found him! I found him! I found him!"

"Who?" Trieze asked, trying to maintain some dignity, even though the three friends were alone. The kiss had shocked him almost, but not quite, speechless.

"The guy who kidnapped Seiji. With a little help from a friend, I found him!" She shouted this last part of the sentence. "Whoo! Hoo"

Zechs, touching his lips, looked at her. "So, what are you going to do? OZ has the troops to arrest him and we have enough evidence that he's a kidnapper at least once and probably twice, from what that diary told us."

Noin glared at him. "Don't you do anything. This guy is mine." Her dark smile was like a feral grin. "I will have him!"

Continued...


	20. Sacrafice

**Chapter 20: Sacrifice**

**Nasty-**

Nasutei watched her brother and Zechs go, walking, for once. Usually, Trieze preferred to use one of his shiny cars to advertise who he was. Today, though, he was going to visit Noin, and for that, he preferred privacy. Nasty smiled. She liked Noin. Zechs, too. Normally, Nasty couldn't stand the people her brother had to associate with for his lifestyle, but Zechs and Noin were just wonderful.

The thought of Noin, naturally, led Nasty to think of Noin's brother, the pretty blonde Seiji. Thinking of Seiji and the party made Nasty look at Trieze's house as she walked toward where they were currently living. The grand mansion that had been in their family for generations was currently being rebuilt; at least half of it was, anyway. The ballroom had been nearly destroyed the night of the party and no one would tell her what was going on.

"We'll see about that, Trieze." Nasty mumbled under her breath. "Think that you can keep me away from a mystery, huh?" She turned from the crews of construction men and their heavy, bright yellow machinery and started walking back to where she and Trieze were currently living. The small guest house was modest to say the least and not what either of them was used to. It only had about four rooms and, as Trieze preferred his guests to stay in the main house, so this went unused.

Well, now they were thankful that their father had built the house a short distance from the main house. As she walked, Nasty's mind went over what she'd seen the night of the party. Of course, the roof exploding in a bizarre flare of black light was top most in her mind. Second, was the sounds of horrified screams and watching the guests swarm out of the ballroom.

Nasty had watched the whole spectacle from where she'd chosen to read, hidden slightly behind a grove of trees and waited patiently until the excitement had died down. When the guests had gone home, it wasn't Trieze who'd come out of the half-demolished ballroom, but a group of strangers and Noin. Two rather large, armored young men each carrying four unconscious boys. The four being carried must have been injured when the roof had collapsed, but there were two others, also. One boy with a very long braid and one that had seen Nasty were dressed normally, but still didn't seem to be quite in place.

She could still see his cold gaze when he'd spotted her sitting under one of the trees. The boy was younger than she was - though not by much - and his eyes had shown too much pain for such a young child. Nasty hated to think what happened must have happened to the poor kid to make him shut down.

But those armored men...Nasty just couldn't get her mind off them. Something about them was nagging at the back of her mind. Black lightening? It all seemed very familiar, like something she'd read long ago.

In the guest house, Nasty wandered around, thinking. She felt very silly doing this, but eventually she picked up the telephone and dialed the very familiar number. "Grandfather?"

-Nasty-chan.- He sounded happy to hear from her. -I heard about what happened at Trieze's house. Is everyone all right?-

"Yes. Nobody was hurt, but Trieze won't tell me what's going on. Not even Zechs will tell me what happened, and he's my best friend! Grandfather, this is going to sound like a very strange request, and I'm sorry to bother you about this, but I'm looking for an old book I seem to remember seeing in your library."

-It's not strange at all.- Grandfather replied. -Do you remember what book you're looking for?-

"I think it was called 'Fairy Tales for the Future'." It was a strange title, but her grandfather had read her stories from that book every day when she was a child. Nasty knew practically all the stories by heart and she was sure that there was some clue in that book.

Grandfather Yagiyu was quite for a long time, so long that Nasty got worried. "Grandfather? Are you there?"

-I'm here.-

"Did I say something wrong? I can go see if I can find it at a library if you don't want to sent it."

-You won't find this book at any library. In fact, I doubt you'd find another book quite like this anywhere in the world. I will sent it by messenger and you'll have the book in two hours.-

Nasty's eyes grew wide. "Two hours? But, grandfather, you live on the other side of Japan! How can you possibly..."

-I have some useful connections. You WILL have the book in two hours. Tell me why you want to see it, Nasty.-

That was not a request and Nasty knew better than to argue with her grandfather when he used that tone. "I've just seen something unusual and I think the book may be able to help me solve a mystery."

-Does it have anything to do with the attack on Trieze's party?-

"Yes, but I don't want you to get involved, grandfather." Nasty hurriedly said. "I'm afraid this might be dangerous, so don't try to come up here to help, okay?" Nasty loved her grandfather very much and it would kill her if anything happened to him.

After Nasty and Trieze's parents died, Nasty was taken in by her mother's father and raised in his secluded mansion by the lake as the heir to the Yagiyu fortune. Nasty had even had her name changed from Kushranada to Yagiyu out of love and respect for her dear grandfather. Their father's side of the family, the Kushranada's, had taken Trieze and raised him as heir to their empire.

-I worry about you, Nasty. This is not just a fairy tale book, so be careful, there are things in this book that are more dangerous than they look.-

Dangerous? In a book? "I'll be careful." Nasty promised before saying goodbye and hanging up.

Only two hours later, as promised, Nasty was looking through the book her grandfather had sent her. She had to admit that she was impressed with the delivery system that could get the book so far in such a short time.

The book was dusty and old, bound in cracking leather with no writing on the front, just as she remembered it from her childhood. Nasty was scanning the pages for something that might jog her memory about why the armor had seemed important when she came to the word, 'yoroi'. Nasty just stared at the word for a moment.

Yoroi: mystical armor.

Nasty swallowed hard, somehow knowing that this was a life changing moment, and then continued to read.

**Book-**

**Arago came to destroy the world and brought with him a great warrior named Hariel. This man, turned to evil by Arago, lived only to destroy and kill for his master.**

**One day the sight of a beautiful, white-haired maiden struck Hariel. He had been sent to kill her family, but her beauty stopped him and made him think. He watched her secretly for many days and nights as she went about daily chores. Her voice was sweeter than honey and her kindness was without equal.**

**For love of this girl, Hariel betrayed Arago. He used the yoroi of Inferno, the most powerful thing Arago had ever created, to fight the armies Arago sent to the Ningen-Sekai. It was Hariel, Arago's own champion, who defeated the demon and banished him to the Youja-Kai.**

**Hariel, still bearing the yoroi, married the girl he'd fallen in love with and she gave birth to two** **strong sons before dying two days after their birth. Hariel was heartbroken, but loved his sons dearly. For the rest of Hariel's life, he loved his dead wife and took no other. His sons grew, but Hariel found that he'd stopped aging. When his sons reached adulthood, Hariel took his own life so he would be able to join his beloved.**

**A monk came to the two sons only hours after the death of their father and asked to see the yoroi that had become so famous. The sons, not wanting anyone to try to steal the yoroi, refused. The monk tapped his staff on the floor of their home and a flash of light blinded them for a moment and when they could see again, the monk had gone. So had the yoroi.**

**Fortunately, their father's body had been left undisturbed, so the sons were not terribly saddened. They searched for the yoroi and the thieving monk, but they never found ant trace of the thief.**

**The monk hid the yoroi safely away so Arago's forces could not find it, in his own village, and waited.**

**End Book-**

The story, Nasty noticed, was illustrated with pictures of the yoroi, incredible white armor, and a man wielding two flaming swords. Different drawings of him fighting both men and then a demon encased in dull gray armor. One picture of Hariel without the yoroi and holding his two sons on his lap and the caption underneath read:

**KURODA HARIEL WITH HIS SONS, PO-SIN AND JIROUGOROU.**

Nasty carried the book over to her computer and began to search the internet. It was just a story, a fairy tale that she dimly remembered, but Nasty couldn't get her mind off what she'd read. She typed 'Hariel' into the search engine and waited to see what turned up. Nasty wanted to laugh at herself, but it really did seem important. Finally she found a site entitled: HARIEL, JUST A STORY?

Intrigued, Nasty clicked on it and read the essay someone had posted.

**Internet-**

**After the creation of the nine yoroi, the monk, Kaosu, hid them away to await those who would** **bear them. Records from the villagers who hid the nine yoroi tell us that not even three years after the death of Hariel, one yoroi, the yoroi of illusion, vanished. It was at the same time that Hariel's younger son, Jirougorou, vanished. Many believe that Jirougorou was chosen to follow in his father's footsteps and wear the yoroi, but Jirougorou was never seen again.**

**For many years, one-by-one, the yoroi slowly vanished from the resting-place the monk had sealed them in, until only five remained. These five still sleep, waiting for the warriors who will come to claim them.**

**One rumor has said that an Indian boy was granted one. He is one of the few in history who have been thought to have been created out of the pairing of human and a snake, a naga. The evidence of this is his larger than normal eyes and hair that started to turn green as he aged. By the time this boy was nine his unusual appearance was enough to have him driven from the village of his birth just after his mother's death.**

**Having nowhere else to go, the boy wandered the Earth until he came to Japan and took the Japanese name, Yamanouchi Naotoki. The boy was said to be skilled in poisons as well as healing until he, like Jirougorou, vanished without a trace.**

**End Internet-**

Again, Nasty found a hand drawn picture of a very young man with wild green hair and bitter eyes with a very angry expression. True, he didn't look quite human, but Nasty couldn't help but to feel pity for those hurt filled eyes. Whoever had drawn the picture had truly had talent to capture such a look.

**Internet-**

**The last story regards Sasaki Kujuurou. A loner who wandered from city to city, Kujuurou was rumored to have been a vampire.**

**End Internet-**

Nasty blinked and had to reread that last sentence. A vampire? Still, she was finding herself believing in a legend of magical armor, so why not vampires?

**Internet-**

**Kujuurou was accused of many mysterious deaths, nothing could be proved, however. Kujuurou did nothing to stop the rumors that he was a vampire and seemed to fuel them by only going out at night. Kujuurou was said to have disappeared in a ray of light that came from the night sky. Many people believe it was some god destroying the evil creature while others believe he was chosen to bear one of the yoroi.**

**The disappearance of each young man coincides with the disappearance of three of the yoroi - Gen, Yami, and Doku.**

**End Internet-**

Nasty closed the book, that being the end of the section that interested her. How very, very odd. The blue haired one, the vampire Kujuurou was definitely the one she'd seen the other night. That was quite impossible. Nasty tried to convince herself that the green-haired young man she'd seen was just a look alike or perhaps a descendant of Naotoki, but somehow it just didn't seem right.

The article on the Internet only mentioned where three of the yoroi went, but it also said a fourth had been taken. So where was the fourth missing yoroi and what had happened to the other five?

A sudden thought struck Nasty. If she could find whoever had written the article, then maybe they would be able to help her unravel this mystery. After all, they seemed to know everything that was going on! Nasty quickly scrolled to the bottom of the page and stared in shock at the name at the bottom.

Professor Yagiyu.

What? Nasty frowned and wondered why her grandfather hadn't told her this before. Surely, he would have mentioned it at some time. Well, no better way to find out than to call him and ask.

Just as Nasty was walking to the phone she heard the doorbell ring. Nasty really wanted to call her grandfather and ask about this, but courtesy came first. She went to answer the door. At the door was a...well, a pretty young man. Chinese with his hair pulled back into a ponytail and one hand behind his back. He blinked, seeming surprised to see her.

"Hello, can I help you?" Nasty asked.

"I am looking for Trieze Kushranada. Is he home?" The young man asked in a cultured voice, speaking almost perfect Japanese.

Nasty shook her head, wondering if this was one of Trieze's former boyfriends but decided that this guy was a bit young for Trieze's taste. Besides, Trieze had been rather preoccupied with Zechs for the past several years.

"No, I'm sorry." Nasty replied. "You just missed him. Would you care to come in and for some tea?"

**Wufei-**

Wufei rang the doorbell of the Kushranada home, his knife hidden well under the long coat he wore. This was where Trieze lived after some kind of attack, the construction workers had told Wufei when he'd asked them. Wufei rang again, impatient to get his hands around Trieze's throat and his knife in Trieze's belly.

"Hello, can I help you?" A soft voice asked when the door opened. She was very beautiful, the girl who answered the door. Her hair was long and she was wearing glasses, making her eyes look bigger.

"I am looking for Trieze Kushranada." Wufei replied. She must be one of the servants. Of course Trieze wouldn't answer his own door. "Is he home?"

The girl shook her head. "I'm sorry, you just missed him. Would you care to come in for some tea?" She smiled sweetly.

Her manner was so inviting that Wufei accepted. After all, it would be rude not to. Besides, it would be good to get an idea of the layout of the house, especially if he was going to have to sneak in later. Maybe he'd get lucky and Trieze would come back while he here.

They had tea in the garden and Wufei found myself almost enjoying Nasty's company. He didn't enjoy it. After all, his wife just died a few days ago, so Wufei wasn't about to go about enjoying the company of other women. That would be terribly disrespectful to sweet Meiran. Even if Nasty was quite charming, intelligent, and lovely.

_No! I am NOT going to think like that! I will be loyal to Meiran!_

Nasty was, Wufei found, a very interesting conversationalist. While having tea together, they wandered onto the topic of politics and she was very knowledgeable about what was going on and had very strong opinions on most ever subject. OZ, she informed Wufei, was quite a good ideal and with Trieze at the head, she was sure it would do nothing but good.

"You can't believe that." Wufei told her. "OZ is nothing but another army, how could it do any real good?" That brought back especially unpleasant memories. "Haven't you heard about the attack on the A0206? OZ attacked a virtually unarmed colony and very nearly destroyed it."

Nasty crossed her arms over her chest indignantly. "Trieze didn't do that."

"What?" Wufei asked in disbelief. "He's the commander-in-chief, they don't do anything without orders from him. How can you say he didn't do it?"

"Trieze would never do anything so monstrous, he's a very good man!"

"You are a fool if you honestly belief that." Wufei told her calmly. "Trieze is a charismatic politician and people, like yourself, want to believe in him. He is nothing but a murderer."

"Is that so?" She looked at Wufei coldly. "Perhaps you're the one who's fooling yourself." She gave me a shrewd look. "You came from A0206, didn't you? Or you at least had family there. Are you trying to find someone to blame for that tragedy? Is Trieze just a handy target?"

How could she tell? The weight of the knife, now safely tucked into the waistband of Wufei's trousers, suddenly felt rather unpleasant. Wufei knew he'd have to kill her if she realized why Wufei was here. Wufei set down his teacup and stood. "Perhaps I should leave." He really didn't want to have to hurt her. It's not her fault that she's smart and happens to work for Trieze.

Nasty stood with Wufei and was starting to walk him to the driveway of her house when she stopped and looked down at the soil. "What the...?"

Wufei stopped to see what she was looking at. Nasty was looking down at the ground at a set of footprints. "What's wrong?" Wufei asked.

Nasty was quiet for a moment before she looked up at Wufei, puzzled. "There was someone here, in the garden."

"So?" Wufei gestured at all the construction workers littering the grounds. "Perhaps it was one of them?"

Nasty shook her head and pointed to the footprints. "No. These are prints from military issue boots and we haven't any visits from anyone in OZ in ages."

Taken in by the mystery, Wufei looked around and found another set of footprints with a small, round impression right next to them. "Here's another." Wufei told her. "But they aren't the same prints, so you've had at least two visitors."

"Three." She said grimly. Next to a large tree was a third set of prints, again different from the first two. "Someone was in my backyard. I wonder who."

"Perhaps one of the workers saw something." Wufei suggested. "A witness could be very handy."

Nasty smiled. "I have a better witness."

"Oh?"

She pointed up, into the tree, and Wufei could only just see a small camera nestled among the branches. "Come on!" She grabbed Wufei's arm and dragged him into the house and to a computer. With a few taps on the keyboard, she had accessed the recordings.

This is what they saw:

It was dark, the previous night, according to the date and time showing in the lower right hand corner of the image. Everything was silent until a woman in an OZ uniform walked out of the left side of the scene and waited, her hands folded crisply behind her back. She stood quite still for a long time until another figure came out, leaning on a walking stick. "I got your message. What did you walk to talk about?" The man asked.

"How would you like a job? I have use for a person like you, doctor J." The woman, with her hair tied into two sever buns on either side of her head, said with a not even a sign of a smile.

"What might you be referring to, miss?" The man, with one hand tightly clasped on the head of his walking stick, asked softly. He was cautious, not wanting to give anything away.

"I've heard enough about you to last a lifetime. I've received information about your project and the 'weapons' you and your colleges have been developing to defend the colonies. Doctor J, I am offering you, and your associates, a business partnership."

Doctor J raised a bushy eyebrow. "Business? What sort of things do you need me to help you with, Lady Une?" Finally, he admitted that he knew who she was.

"You? Nothing. You are completely useless except for one fact. You have the Gundam Pilots." Lady Une smiled sharply. "The finest warriors to have been created in many years and I want them."

"How would you know about them?" Doctor J suddenly became guarded, serious.

Une let herself grin slightly at doctor J's sudden nervousness. "Don't worry. I don't expect that I'll turn you in. I could have told Trieze weeks ago, when I first discovered what you were trying to accomplish. I want to use your pilots and they are, from what I've heard, quite useless without their instructors to give them orders."

"True, they are trained to only take orders only from us. But what use could they be to you? You are an OZ officer and, in case you didn't know, your boss, Kushranada, is one of our main targets. If I have my way, he'll be dead within the year."

Une responded, "If I have my way, he'll be dead in one month and three days."

Silence for a moment as each examined the other. "You seemed to have planned it carefully." Doctor J said slowly.

"Oh, I have."

"So, you're planning a coup. Kill Trieze and then what? May I presume that you are behind the attack on A0206 and not Trieze?" A man with goggles and a cybernetic arm asked. "To discredit him?"

The woman laughed. "That's part one. To make the colonies hate Trieze and Earth fear him. After the attack on the colony everyone will think he is a ruthless madman and they will not fight at all when another steps into his shoes. It's all right under his nose, too. He has no clue that it was I who'd ordered the attack. Who else has access to all his personal information as well as all the proper codes?"

"You are truly evil, madam." The man shook his head in almost an admiring fashion. "Who would think the trusted aide and bodyguard of betraying Trieze, one of the most influential men on the planet? How are you dealing with him?"

Une smirked. "Poison, naturally. With all the assassins around I thought that was a little too risky to just hire someone. His bodyguards are quite good, and I should know. I trained most of them. So, just a touch of poison in his tea every night and he never suspects a thing. Poor man just keeps getting sicker and sicker as the days pass." She shook her head in mock sympathy.

The man with the cybernetic arm replied, with a laugh. "You make his tea? My, what a good aide, Une. Do you also make his bed in the morning and iron his shirts? What other services do you provide?" He asked in a lewd, insinuating voice.

Une stopped smiling at this point. "Are you suggesting that I sleep with him? Don't be insulting. I wouldn't serve that arrogant bastard if it weren't for the fact that I don't trust his servants enough to bribe them to do the dirty work. The thought of sleeping with that man is simply nauseating. What about you and your colleges, how is your work going? My information says that four of you are busy training children for suicide missions, but the fifth is having a bit of trouble finding a suitable pilot for the Gundam."

Doctor J gave her a vile glare. "You are a little too well informed for my comfort. What are your plans, before I tell you anything?"

Une's smile widened. "I am going to take over the world and I think your Gundam Pilots would be useful in deterring any rebellion after my conquest."

Doctor J thought before saying slowly, "An most...interesting idea. What will be our payment, should my colleges and I chose to help you?"

"I only want the Earth. You and your associates may divide up the colonies as you see fit. As you are all of the colonies, they will follow you without question. After all, in their eyes anyone would be a better leader than that maniac, Trieze."

Doctor J smiled and considered the idea. "Well, all we want is freedom for the colonies. Your way will simply mean less work for us and I can't really see a down side. Since you asked, things are going fairly well with the pilots. Currently, I'm testing my perfect soldier's abilities by sending him to kill an escaped experiment."

"An experiment?"

"Just a failure. He was damaged when he was younger and no use as a pilot. I was planning to use him as a decoy if I needed to lure an enemy away from Heero. Otherwise, I would have had him killed years ago."

Une scowled. "Isn't that a little dangerous? What if your experiment kills your perfect soldier? You would have no pilot."

"You have not seen Heero." Doctor J said, with a strange tone in his voice. "He is absolutely, utterly PERFECT! There is nothing that can stop him. He will kill the escaped one."

The sound of undisguised lust in doctor J's voice that caused Une to grimace in disgust. Doctor J didn't even appear to be ashamed of it, either. "You don't mean...?"

"Why, my dear, what are you suggesting?" Doctor J said, not even trying to sound innocent.

"That you're a perverted ass. Honestly, he's only a child! That's just disgusting."

Doctor J shook his finger at her, almost mockingly. "This is no time for high morals, my dear. You're in rather deep to get all high and mighty, now."

"I am NOT your dear!" Une growled.

Doctor J continued as if he hadn't been interrupted, "We still haven't found the right person to pilot Death Scythe. If we don't find someone soon, we're going to have to put it into storage. A Gundam's no good without a pilot."

"No matter." Lady Une continued. "By the time we need them, Trieze will be dead or close to death. The take over will be subtle, no dramatics. I don't want to upset Nasutei-san without reason. She's going to come in useful after her brother's death." Une smiled, a wicked smile, "She's going to be the new leader of the Alliance, after all. It's only natural that she inherit everything."

"Trieze's sister? She's no soldier. Will the troops accept her as the commander-in-chief?"

"Oh, yes. She's a very sweet, pretty, gentle girl. She's a lady and the object of many men's adoration. The troops under Trieze will love her for her own sake as well as sentimentality for their dear, departed Trieze. I, of course, will make all real decisions for the Alliance. Nasutei will only be a figurehead, an ideal for the men to follow, but she will look to me for guidance. I will tell her what to say and what to do and she will be grateful. Left alone after the death of her dear brother, she will be thankful that I am there for her to lean on. There won't be anyone else for her to turn to."

"Why don't you don't just kill her, too?"

"I want Trieze's money, while I'm at it. No one in their right mind would believe a man like Trieze would leave his estate to his secretary instead of his beloved sister. Therefore, I will just have to guide Nasutei with the proper way to use her money and how to write her will and who should be named in her will. After that, she might just have a little accident, who knows, it might even be fatal. I will have the power of the Alliance and the fortunes of Kushranada and Yagiyu."

"Very, very clever, but how will you explain the poison that will show up in the autopsy that will be performed on Trieze's body. The girl will surely think to have that done, at least. From what I've heard, she's no idiot. Quite a bright girl, really."

Une put a hand on doctor J's shoulder. "Well, I'll just have to call in a very good doctor that I know to handle all the details, won't I?"

"Point taken and a very good idea."

"Are you done explaining things?"

Both doctor J and Lady Une turned at the third voice that had spoken. Lady Une introduced the new comer. "Mayers, this is doctor J. He's the other one I told you about."

Mayers, a well-dressed man stepped only slightly out of the shadows and held a gun easily in his left hand. "Yeah, yeah. Let's get on with this. Are you in or not?"

Doctor J nodded. "Oh, yes. I think this will be a very interesting opportunity. It won't take very much to change the training of the pilots. They're very much like dogs, really. A little swat with a rolled up newspaper is all they need to get them headed in the right direction. In fact, they're not good for much else than obeying orders."

The three had a good laugh at that remark. "Mayers is my little private army." Lady Une explained. "I've hired out him and his men to do a little dirty work for me here and there." She gave Mayers a smile. "I approve of a man who can be bought. But where have you been? I expected you here before now."

"I've had a little private business to take care of. Nothing to do with any of this, I assure you. It'll all be over by the morning anyway, I expect."

"It's time to start phase two." Une told doctor J as she pulled out a gun at her side. "Trieze has, besides his sister, only two real friends. They are the two he trusts more than anyone else and he looks to them both for guidance. They will notice his growing illness soon and they are both intelligent enough to figure out what's going on. In order for this plan to work, they'll both have to die, I'm afraid."

"You sound regretful."

"I am. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find good officers?"

That was the end of it and the computer screen went to static.

Nasty was shaking furiously.

Wufei looked over at her, shocked. Nasutei? Nasty? "You're Trieze's sister?" He asked faintly. Somehow, he hadn't guessed that.

She nodded wordlessly.

Wufei had to admit, he was feeling rather guilty. _I guess Trieze isn't the one I should be blaming._ Trieze, Wufei was sure, had a role in this somewhere, he couldn't be completely innocent, but this Lady Une is the one who deserved Wufei's attention at this moment.

"I'll kill her." Nasty mumbled.

"What?" Wufei asked, not sure if he'd heard right.

"She's Trieze's aide. He trusts her with everything. He's known her for fifteen years and will do almost anything she suggests." Nasty abruptly stood and glared hatefully at the computer. "I never imagined her..."

"How did she get passed all the security?" Wufei asked. "Surely, Trieze must have better security than to let anyone walk in."

"Lady Une designed and installed the security system." Nasty said bitterly. "Trieze knew if there was anyone we could trust with the job, it was her. Blast it! Here we thought she was the one person we could trust and she was poisoning him right under my nose! She made that bloody tea in MY kitchen!" Nasty stopped pacing in front of the window and stared out silence.

"If Lady Une designed the security system, why didn't she disable the camera before having her conversation right there? Is she that arrogant?"

"Oh, no." Nasty answered. "I put that camera there so I could see what kind of birds we had living around here."

Wufei turned slightly and couldn't help but smile. "You were bird watching?"

"Yes."

Wufei went back to Nasty's computer and replayed the conversation they'd just watched between the three people. "Do you know who the other two are?" He asked, focusing the image on doctor J and Mayers. Wufei had to wonder whom doctor J had trained. Wufei's own instructor mentioned other pilots, but he'd never been able to meet them. _So, that's what doctor J thinks of us. "They're much like dogs, really." Doctor J had said. "Not good for anything but obeying orders." So, that's what we are to them? Animals, mere weapons to be pointed and fired?_ Wufei thought he was training to fight for the lives of the colonies. He'd thought they were fighting for the glory and honor of their families. That's what his instructor had told him. Now, for no reason but that doctor J thought it would be amusing, they were going to change sides? _They're going to sell us to OZ - to the people who'd killed my whole world, my darling Meiran?_

Wufei really, really wanted to put his fist through the screen of Nasty's computer.

Nasty took a look over Wufei's shoulder at the two men, but shook her head. "I've never seen them before and I have a very good memory for faces. Excuse me." Nasty turned on her heel and walked swiftly out of the room.

"Where are you going?" Wufei asked, following.

"Where do you think? I'm going to warn my brother. Une said she was going to kill his two closed friends and I know he's visiting them today."

"Are you planning to walk there?" Wufei asked her, still following as she went out to the front hall and put her coat on.

"The car's being repaired and Noin doesn't live too far away." Nasty didn't even look at Wufei she was so focused and continued with her eyes narrowed.

Wufei took her arm and pulled her to a stop, making Nasty focus on him. "Tell me where this Noin lives and I'll go for you."

"What?" Nasty shook her head. "Let go of me, Wufei. I am going to do this myself."

"Don't be a fool! I came here on my motorcycle, I can get there in minutes."

Nasty looked at where Wufei was pointing, and saw his old motorcycle. "Good, give me the keys." She held out her hand expectantly.

"No! You're a lady and you might get hurt!" Wufei really don't want her going to where these murderers could get at her. "Stay here and I'll save your brother for you."

"Why?"

The question brought Wufei up short. He really shouldn't tell her that he was feeling slightly guilty about trying to kill Trieze. She might get upset, after all. Finally, Wufei decided on telling her, "I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'm not as fragile as I look, Wufei. Give my the keys or get out of my way."

Stupid woman! Why won't she use sense? "Your brother could be dead by the time you walk there! Why don't you just let me go in your place?"

Nasty sighed. "No offense, Wufei, but I just met you a few minutes ago. I've seen the small knife you keep in your waistband and I can tell that you've got a gun under your coat. You come to my home armed and ask to see my brother, yet when I ask why you want to see him, you avoid the question. You've given me no reason to trust you and for all I know, you could be working for Une. I have to do this and know that it gets done right."

How could Wufei deny that what she says makes sense? "Fine." Wufei said, somewhat defeated. "Get on." Wufei took the helmet off his motorcycle seat and handed it to her. "Give me directions as we go. I am NOT letting you go there alone."

Nasty took the helmet and strapped it on as if she'd done it before. Funny, it hadn't occurred to Wufei that maybe she'd ridden a motorcycle before. She just didn't seem like the type. "Thank you." She said simply and sat behind Wufei, putting her arms around his waist.

Off they went and Wufei tried real hard not to think about how nice her arms felt around him.

**Youja Kai-  
Sh'ten-**

Sh'ten, still in full yoroi, bowed before Emperor Arago. "Wearing the yoroi before me is an affront to me, Sh'ten. You know this. Where are the others?"

Sh'ten, hoping to pacify Arago, willed the yoroi off his body and into the small orb, holding it protectively in one hand. "We search for the yoroi, still, master." Sh'ten spoke as respectfully as he could. Though they mocked Arago easily when he couldn't hear them, they were still wary of his power. Arago's temper was not something to be taken lightly.

"Why does it take so long?" Arago's voice was dangerously soft, measured.

"The Ningen-Sekai is vast, master. We divided our forces in hopes of finding the other yoroi, also." Well, that much was true, anyway. Sh'ten had left Rajura and Anubisu with the younger children, Ryou, Seiji, Heero, and Duo at the gates. They had gone in search of Kay while he came here as little more than a distraction.

"And you have recovered none, in all the time you have searched?"

"No, master."

A jolt of energy shot through Sh'ten, bringing him to his knees in pain. "Do not lie to me, Sh'ten. You are not skilled at it. I ask you again, have you recovered the yoroi?"

Sh'ten took a deep, shuttering breath, but stayed where he'd fallen. "No, master." He managed to gasp.

The second jolt of power didn't shot through him as the first had, but lifted him off his feet. It left Sh'ten hovering in midair for a moment before he was thrown back, against one of the stone walls. Sh'ten cried out with pain, feeling several of bones break. His skull cracked against the stones before Sh'ten slid limply to the floor.

Sh'ten bit his lip to keep himself from crying out again, holding his ribs as he tried to push himself up into a sitting up position. He was suddenly aware of another presence in the room and when he looked up, he saw the spirit, Badamon, hovering at Arago's side.

"Lord Badamon has informed me of your betrayal, Sh'ten. He knows that you have found the yoroi. He knows you are keeping them from me." Arago's voice was steadily rising with his anger. Badamon smirked mirthlessly down at Sh'ten. "You will tell me where they are. Where are your brothers?"

Sh'ten struggled to his feet. "Lord Badamon has made a mistake, my master. We have found no yoroi." It was a bald faced lie and was met by another jolt of agony. This time, Sh'ten managed to stay on his feet, but only just.

"You, who so enjoy the pain of others, should appreciate this. You, my Ma-Sho of Cruelty, are an insect. Sh'ten, you are an infant in power and experience, but I will show you. I will teach you suffering and pain." Arago continued.

Sh'ten felt a pressure, like a giant hand wrapping tightly around him, squeezing his entire body. His lungs and heart were squeezed tightly by breaking ribs.

"Where are the others, Sh'ten?" Arago's implacable voice asked, releasing the pressure so Sh'ten could answer.

Sh'ten gasped desperately for air, before saying, as clearly as he could, "I do not know, master."

Pain, like white-hot needles, lanced through Sh'ten's brain. Sh'ten couldn't help it this time and he crumbled to the floor, rolling to his side and whimpering like a child. Tears ran freely down his face and Sh'ten clamped his eyes tightly shut, concentrating on one thought. _I will not betray them._

"Give me the Oni Yoroi."

Sh'ten's head shot up at Arago's words. He started to shake his head. If Arago managed to get his hands on even one of the Yoroi, he could kill the others or, worse, gain access to their minds. It would be disaster. They would never again have free will or be able to even think their own thoughts without Arago with them. "No." Sh'ten clutched the orb as tightly as he could.

Badamon began to approach Sh'ten and Sh'ten knew he didn't have the power to fight. In desperation, Sh'ten's mind went to Kay. He could give her the yoroi and at least she would have some protection. When the others found her, they'd teach her how to use it.

Sh'ten threw the yoroi as hard as he could, willing it to go to Kay, though he still didn't remember who that was. Instead of going where it should have, the orb suddenly halted in midair and dangled there for a moment. Sh'ten stared at it, horrified.

Badamon laughed. "Fool. Do you think we will let you give the yoroi to the child?" Lord Badamon went closer to the vulnerable orb and Sh'ten grew afraid, truly afraid for the first time in many years. They would kill the others. Rajura, Anubisu, 'Za-chan. Arago and Badamon would kill Sh'ten's family. The children, Ryou, Seiji, Shin, Xiu, Touma, Kay, and Duo would die. Everyone was going to die.

"No!" Sh'ten launched himself with his little remaining strength and managed to grab the orb before Badamon got to it. There was no place to hide and Sh'ten knew he was going to die here.

Closing his mind to his brothers, to spare them the full brunt of the pain, Sh'ten's decision became very easy. Sh'ten held the orb and willed it to vanish from sight. The orb vanished from Sh'ten's hand as he forced it into the one place Arago would never think to look for it. In his own heart.

Sh'ten instantly felt the searing pain ripping his heart apart. His eyes widened for a split second before he crashed to the stone floor.

The world went black.

Oblivion

**Arago-**

Badamon checked the body of the traitor, but found no sign of the yoroi. Sh'ten had managed to kill himself, but the orb was gone. There is no mark on his body to show how exactly he died, but Arago knew it must have something to do with the orb. It's gone, simply vanished.

"I will wait for my Ma-Sho to return." Arago told Badamon. "They have much to answer for. Sh'ten must have sent his orb to one of his brothers, somehow." Though, since the room was shielded against such a tactic, Arago had no idea how Sh'ten had done such a thing. Still, it was the only answer.

Badamon bowed. "Yes, my lord. What do you wish done with this?" Badamon looked down at Sh'ten's fallen corpse.

"Leave it. I have no use for the body and I will not waste time disposing of it. It will serve as a lesson for the Ma-Sho when they return to me. They will never betray me as Sh'ten did."

Continued...


	21. Heartbreak

**Chapter 21: Heartbreak **

**Shin-**

Naaza screamed.

In the middle of the forest, with the OZ warehouse in sight, Naaza suddenly grabbed his chest over his heart and fell to his knees screaming in agony. It sounded as if someone was ripping his heart out while he was still alive. The piercing, heart-breaking sound ripped through the otherwise silent night.

Trowa, with a gun ready, immediately looked around to see if any of the enemy had heard and were coming to investigate the noise. It had been Trowa's doing that they were all dressed up in black to better hide them in the night. As soon as Naaza screamed, Trowa had pulled out his gun and went on the defensive against enemies. They'd come so close to where Quatre was being kept it would be shameful if they were to be captured here or, worse, killed.

Touma moaned softly, biting his lip, and he closed his eyes. He wasn't so badly affected as Naaza was, but he did wrap his arms around himself clearly affected by whatever was bothering Naaza. Touma swayed where he stood and almost fell, but Trowa managed to catch him, holding him steady.

"What's wrong?" Shin knelt next to Naaza and wrapped his arms around the older man, almost instinctively, to comfort him. "What happened?" He knew that something was terribly wrong. Shin could feel a sudden numbness in his mind, like there was something missing, but the block the Ma-Sho had put on his mind blocked everything else out.

Naaza couldn't answer. He sobbed wildly, letting large, pink stained tears run down his face as he continued to scream. One of the tears fell on Shin's thigh, and Shin could hear a soft sizzling sound. Then a sharp sting when the poison of Naaza's tears touched his skin under the clothes. Shin gasped, but didn't pull away from Naaza. Instead, he just shifted slightly so the tears wouldn't fall on him.  
"Sh'ten's dead." Touma said in a lifeless voice. Touma had opened his eyes but he was looking into the distance and didn't seem to notice that Trowa was holding him upright. "He's dead." Touma started to tremble and then got a hold of himself. "He's missing. In my mind, I can feel that he's gone. His place is just...empty."

Shin could feel it, but not so clearly as Touma apparently could. It was like he was just feeling a shadow of the loss. Touma himself could probably only feel a shadow of what Naaza and the other Ma-Sho must be feeling. Shin couldn't imagine the pain they were in.

Naaza was near to having hysterics, he was shaking uncontrollably. Fortunately, he'd stopped screaming, but was still crying loudly.

Shin hugged Naaza tightly and fought to control his anger. _How dare they?_ Shin thought furiously. _First Quatre and now poor Sh'ten! Why won't everyone just leave us alone?_ Shin had to fight the anger, though. He was not an easy person to make angry, but when he did all Hell tended to break loose.

Trowa, still half-supporting Touma, said coolly, "We must go quickly, if we want to save Quatre."

This seemed to shake Touma out of his daze and he pulled away from Trowa. "Don't be so cold." He muttered under his breath, angry that Trowa didn't seem to feel anything for Sh'ten's death. Though Touma wasn't so well connected to Sh'ten as Naaza was, he still felt the loss of someone irreplaceable. But, he wasn't going to let his brother suffer, either.

Naaza stared numbly ahead, not moving and not even crying anymore.

"Come on," Shin said encouragingly to Naaza. "We need you." Shin took Naaza's hands and tried to pull him to his feet. "Quatre might die without you."

Naaza snatched his hands away from Shin. "Why should I care what happens to a ningen boy?" He hissed bitterly. "Let him die like Sh'ten! That brat has no right to live if Sh'ten can't!"

Touma glared and opened his mouth to say something, but a look from Shin silenced him. Touma backed away and stood closer to the silent Trowa. He didn't have to like it, but Touma would let Shin have his way.

Placing his hands on Naaza's knees, Shin looked him right in the reptilian eyes. For the first time, Shin saw how truly inhuman Naaza was. His eyes were not human eyes, but were overly large and the pupils were narrow slits. His eyes were edged in a faint line of scales that faded into green tainted skin. Shin didn't flinch away from Naaza and, in fact, moved in closer to the older man's face.

"I know you're hurting." Shin said softly, almost whispering. "I know you must want to curl up and die. Please, believe me, I do understand."

Naaza let his long forked tongue dart out of his mouth, passed his inch long fangs. He was trying to scare Shin and Shin knew it. Naaza wanted Shin to realize exactly what he was. Still, Shin didn't even blink and just looked at him steadily. "How can you possibly know? You're not apart of our circle. You can't even feel the shadow pain as he can." Naaza indicated Touma. "How dare you say you know what I'm feeling!" Naaza was getting angrier by the minute and the tears started down his face again.

Shin looked at him steadily. "I know because my parents died when I was four years old and I don't even remember them. I know because when I was ten, my best friend died when he was caught in a hit and run. I know because my fist love was murdered two years ago for no better reason than the money in her purse. I do know pain."

Naaza stopped fighting against Shin and just sat there.

"I would do anything to end your pain. I would move the sun if it would bring Sh'ten back to life. But it won't. I can't bring Sh'ten back and I am so sorry that I can't do anything for you. Please, don't let Quatre die. I know you aren't so unfeeling that you'd let an innocent boy die."

"You don't know anything about me." Naaza hissed, though not so volatile as he had before. "I'm not human, so why shouldn't I let him die? He's nothing to me." Naaza tried to pull away, again, but Shin was stronger than he looked and held him tightly.

"You ARE human, you're just a little different. If you weren't human, you wouldn't be crying over the death of your loved one." He ran a hand through Naaza's hair.

Naaza didn't move away from Shin's touch and reached up to touch his still wet face. "I don't cry. I can't. It's just poison leaking out when I don't control myself." His voice sounded distant, like he wasn't really thinking about what he'd just said.

In the distance, they heard a trampling of feet. Voices were talking to each other, "I think it came from over here"

"Are you sure"

"Yeah, Mayers told us to kill anyone but him who comes out here."

There must have been at least a half a dozen voices and they were coming closer. Shin leaned in closer to Naaza and whispered, "Help us. Please."

Naaza's eyes narrowed and he bared his fangs' showing them dripping venom. With a hard shove, Naaza pushed Shin away, making Shin land on his fanny. Naaza stood quickly, ignoring Touma rushing to Shin's side. Naaza no longer cared about concealment and replaced the black clothes Trowa had suggested with his yoroi with a thought. He was, once again, the fierce demonic warrior.  
Before anyone could do anything, Naaza pulled two of his six swords out of the sheaths at his waist. Naaza hung them in midair in front of him, suspended by nothing. Then he pulled out a second pain and put them next to the first and finally, the last two swords. When all his swords were out, Naaza grabbed the hilt of one sword and pulled, as if to bring it away from the other five. Instead, the other swords followed, like some invisible chain connected them.  
The swords moved like a whip in Naaza's hands with deadly accuracy.

With a mighty leap, far greater than normal person could, Naaza jumped into the air, making himself a target for the guards surrounding the complex. Naaza screamed, still waving his sword-whip, "JA GA KEN! (SNAKE FANG STRIKE!)" In one slash of his whip, every one of the armed men was killed.

Touma realized that it was foolish to try and hide now, so he called his yoroi to him and the yoroi appeared on him, complete with the bow on his back. Unfortunately, he still had no idea how to use any of his newly acquired power. Well, at least it should protect him from any flying bullets.

**Trowa-**

Naaza used his fury to destroy every enemy they encountered, having no mercy for the guards who stood in their path. Soon, the Alliance warehouse, a huge concrete building, loomed in the darkness, black against the night's dark purple sky. Trowa had been hoping for a subtle entrance, but Naaza was in no mood for stopping. The green haired warrior used his sure kill to slice through the wall, sending chunks of concrete and metal beams flying through the air.

_He's foolhardy._ Trowa thought, looking after Naaza. _Too confident, by far, and too much power for someone who enjoys using it to much._

Trowa didn't much care for Shin's new associates. These Ma-Sho, as they called themselves, were too powerful for normal people. Of course, at that moment Naaza was blinded by grief and his power was unstoppable. It was possible that he was a competent fighter under normal circumstances, but now he acted like a madman. Trowa wondered if one day he'd be forced to fight Naaza to protect humanity. Did that mean he'd have to fight Shin, too?

Inside the warehouse there was a short battle. Naaza and Touma had to attack hand to hand the guards they'd found, while Trowa used his gun. The building was too confined to use Naaza's Ja Ga Ken and Touma didn't even know what the his 'sure kill' (as Naaza called the devastating attacks) was. Shin stayed in the background and helped as much as he could.

Surprisingly, Shin pulled out several daggers from his clothes and started throwing them at the guards with a deadly aim. Touma thought that living with a professional knife thrower like Catherine must have rubbed off on Shin.

The guards were soon all dead, and Shin was looking rather green. He'd never killed before and hadn't even seen any dead bodies. Trowa had killed far too often for his own comfort, but the bodies no longer sickened him as it did Shin. Naaza, obviously, was an experience warrior so he was also not affected by the death. Even Touma had seen the hard side of life that Shin had been sheltered from.

Shin groaned with a hand to his mouth as he stepped gingerly over a body, the eyes of the corpse staring lifelessly up at him.

"Are you all right?" Trowa asked, looking at Shin, worried.

Shin swallowed hard and nodded. "I'll be fine. Let's just find Quatre and get out of here." Shin looked like he wanted to cry, but he didn't. Trowa moved to stand closer to Shin, but Touma was faster and was next to Shin before Trowa could take two steps.

"Don't worry." Touma told him, taking Shin's hand. "I'll be right here."

Trowa, realizing that Touma would take care of Shin, should he need it, went in search of Quatre. "He must be here." Trowa told them. "We just have to search until we find him."

Naaza, still not seeming to care what happened to Quatre, wandered listlessly off, muttering to himself, "Oh, my Oni. My sweet red topped child..."

Shin went with Touma. Touma and Trowa had exchanged a look that clearly said that neither of them wanted Shin to go off on his own. Trowa went by himself.

For a warehouse, the building was surprisingly well lit and the search was simple as there appeared to be nothing stored in this warehouse. It was completely empty. Naaza's attacks had drawn out nearly all the guards, it seemed. Those who hadn't come out to fight him must have run away for the warehouse was clearly deserted. Trowa contemplated raiding the place for information to use for his future missions, but disregarded the idea. He was there to search for Quatre, not intelligence.  
After only about twenty minutes searching, Trowa came to a room with a locked door. The lock was not simple to unlock and Trowa had to at least give the Alliance credit for quality security. In the room behind the door Trowa for his target.

On the floor, stripped half-naked and horribly tortured, was a young boy from the computer image he'd seen earlier. Trowa went over to the boy and knelt next to him. There was a faint pulse and ragged breathing, but the boy was alive.

"Beautiful." Trowa said to himself. Even so close to death, Quatre was like a porcelain angel. Delicate and pale with hair of spun gold, Trowa couldn't imagine a more perfect creature on Earth or beyond. He reached out to touch Quatre's face, almost afraid to touch him.

"Hey! You found him"

Trowa jerked his hand away from Quatre's face and sat back, distancing himself from Quatre at the sound of Touma's voice. Touma and Shin were standing in the doorway and Touma ran in, so happy to find his beloved brother.

"Kitty!" Touma started to fuss over Quatre, but there was so little that they could do. Quatre had lost so much blood and there were bits of...him...all over the room. Whoever had done this had taken pleasure in mutilating poor Quatre. "Oh, God." Touma muttered to a deity that he'd long ago stopped believing in. Several of Quatre's fingers had been cut off along with his penis. There were marks showing that he'd been whipped and general bruising of many beatings. Several tendons in his legs had been cut and...and...the damage just went on and on.

"I don't think there is anything we can do." Trowa told Touma honestly. "There is no hospital for many miles and simple first aid won't do anything to help him at this point." While Trowa was very good at field surgery, he knew there was nothing he could do at that point. If anything, they'd only extend Quatre's suffering and the boy would die as they trekked back through the forest trying to get him to a hospital. It would be better, kinder, to let Quatre die here.

Touma gave him a look that could kill. What did he expect Trowa to do? Come up with some miracle? They'd known how badly Quatre was hurt when they'd seen the computer threat. As far as Trowa was concerned, it would have been lucky if they managed to save Quatre, but he'd only expected this to be a body recovery. Still, his heart ached that the world was losing something so precious.

"A pity Seiji isn't here. He could heal Quatre almost instantly." Shin said softly, still in the doorway of the room, thinking of how easily Seiji had healed him.

**Naaza-**

Naaza stood behind the small Shin, so fragile looking for a boy destined to be a warrior, and watched the scene. Naaza couldn't really say that he was moved by it, really. He didn't know this Quatre that everyone's so worried about, so he didn't care about him. As far as Naaza was concerned, Quatre could lay here and die. But, Shin looked like he would cry and Naaza didn't want to see that.

"I can heal him." Naaza said, stepping passed Shin and into the room.

"What?" Touma turned quickly. "Why didn't you say something sooner?"

"You didn't ask. Besides, it'll hurt him."

"Kitty's dying in front of us." Touma said. "What's a little pain compared to death?"

Naaza had to smile at the boy's innocence. Give him a few centuries and he wouldn't have to ask such a foolish question. Often death was far preferable to pain. "It's your choice, as his brother." Naaza told him. "I can heal him now and he will survive, but he might not be happy about it."

"Do it." Trowa said from where he knelt at Quatre's side. "His pulse is weak and the bleeding isn't slowing." Trowa gave orders as if he expected to be obeyed...no...that's not right. He just says the obvious and expects everyone to see the simple solution as he does.

"He's a hemophiliac, he won't stop bleeding until he bleeds to death unless we get him to a hospital," Touma looked at Naaza, scared of losing his brother, and Naaza could tell that Touma doesn't like others to see such weakness in him. "Or healed in another way. Do it."

Naaza wasn't going to do anything for Trowa or Quatre. They meant nothing to him, they were only humans and they were just like all the others. Heartless, unthinking creatures. He wasn't even doing this for Touma who is now apart of Naaza's family. _I'll do this for Shin, who didn't turn away from me, even when I showed him what I really am. Shin...no one outside my family has been able to look at me for so many centuries. Shin looks at me just like Sh'ten, without fear._

"Very wise." Naaza said, putting aside thoughts of his dearest 'Ten-chan. "Just don't interfere. Once I've started, any distractions might kill him." Naaza knelt next to Quatre and started to pull off the boy's remaining tattered clothes. Naaza carefully examined the wounds, probing them with a finger, causing Quatre to involuntary groan with pain and twitch, though he didn't wake up.

Naaza leaned over one of the deeper gnashes on Quatre's chest and slid his long narrow tongue out of his mouth and lapped at the blood, tasting it. Tasting the blood helped Naaza decide how to best help someone who was injured. He wasn't sure why or how it worked, all he knew was that it worked.

After studying the boy's blood enough to make sure the cure would react properly to Quatre's body, Naaza moved to Quatre's throat and started to suck on it.

"What are you doing?" Shin asked, but Touma elbowed him, telling him to hush. Naaza had to shut out the world around him to concentrate on making his body create the correct serums and chemicals to heal, instead of kill. When Naaza knew he had sucked enough to bring the veins to the surface of Quatre's skin, he extended his fangs and bit deeply.

Slowly, Naaza started to rub the palms of his hands over the deeper wounds that affected Quatre's vital organs. He moved his hands, which were excreting a clear slime-like substance, to Quatre's face and head. This slime was a burning acidic agent, able to burn the wounds to seal them and encourage the boy's own body to heal. Even Naaza, concentrating so fully on the healing that he barely knew what was going on around him, could smell the cauterizing burning of flesh.  
While Naaza's hands were doing this, he was using my fangs to pump a different, more potent, healing liquid into Quatre's veins.

Under Naaza's painfully healing touch Quatre moaned, tossing his head slightly. Quatre's eyes flickered open for a second, then closed again. They were so closely connected right now that Naaza could feel Quatre waking up and used another chemical to put him into a deeper sleep. It would not be a good idea for the boy to be awake while Naaza was doing this.

When Naaza had finally detached himself from Quatre's throat, he moved to one of the more serious, though not life-threatening injuries, Quarte's mutilated body parts. The fingers were fairly easy, the slime from Naaza's hands to reattach them and then biting the fingers to get his chemicals closer to the wounds. They would heal just fine. Then it was onto the tricky part.

Quatre's crotch.

It wasn't exactly hard to heal, but Naaza was an admitted prude. He had to admit that Sh'ten and, later, Rajura and Anubisu, were the only people he'd ever even looked at when they were naked. Naaza had to try very hard not to flinch when he picked up Quatre's severed penis.

Naaza had to bite Quatre again, as he had with Quatre's fingers, but he couldn't bring himself to actually bite Quatre's...well...Naaza bit Quatre's upper thigh. It was as close to the, er, injury as Naaza was going to get. Naaza let his hands ooze over Quatre's manhood, to reattach it to the stump left behind and tried real hard not to think about what he was doing.

It took longer than Naaza had thought it would, perhaps an hour, but in the end, Quatre was whole and would wake up soon. When Naaza backed away from him, sitting on his knees, Trowa and Touma went to Quatre to check on him. _Hmph! You'd think they didn't trust me!_ Naaza looked at Quatre's still body and smile. A fine bit of work, even if he did say so himself! Quatre was scarred and covered in burns, but he'd live.

"Thank you"

Naaza didn't look up at him, but knew that Shin was standing next to him, smiling.

**Shin-**

Shin carried Quatre out of the ruined building, trying to step over the bodies. Touma and Naaza were both armed with the yoroi and Trowa wanted to be able to use his gun if he had to. Unfortunately, Shin was pretty much useless when it comes to fighting, so they decided to let him carry Quatre.

Shin saw, when he and Touma had walked in to find Trowa and Quatre, that Trowa had a strange look on his face. He'd never seen Trowa look like that before. Sort of...stunned. His mouth had been slightly open and his eyes wide with one hand reaching out to touch Quatre's face.  
It must be love.

There was another thing that bothered Shin. He couldn't get his mind off Naaza and how he healed. Granted, Shin hadn't been awake when Seiji had healed him, but Shin was pretty sure it wasn't anything like what Naaza had just done. Shin had been blushing through the entire healing process. It had been a very...erotic sight. Naaza crawling all over a naked Quatre, licking and biting. He sucked on Quatre's neck and fingers, for goodness sakes!

_Then again, what if Seiji HAD done that to me? What if everyone was just too polite to tell me that Seiji had been crawling all over me? Seiji's long cool hands and soft looking mouth..._

"Hey, Shin, are you okay? You're all red?" Touma asked Shin and Shin shook his head vigorously.

"I'm fine. It's just Quatre's heavier than I thought he'd be." Shin heaved Quatre up, making a show of how heavy he was and tried to get his mind off Seiji. It wasn't a lie, anyway. Quatre couldn't have been much bigger than Shin was, but he was heavier. He had more muscles that Shin would have thought, even though he was so delicate looking.

They were almost out of the building and Shin was trying very hard not to look at the bodies. Trowa had shot them as if he'd done it a thousand times before. What had changed him from the guy Shin knew who used to juggle with Shin in the circus? Touma had used his heavily armored hands to bash anyone between him and his brother. This, Shin had expected. Touma was very protective of Quatre and would do anything to save him. Shin hadn't really expected Touma to kill, but none of the people he'd attacked were moving.

Shin looked over at Naaza when he heard a soft squishing sound. Naaza stepped on a body and kept moving as if it hadn't been there. Naaza was a mystery. He cried like a child when his friend died, but all these people didn't bother him at all. He'd killed them and then moved on.

They were outside when Naaza stepped on another body and his heavy yoroi made the stomach of the corpse cave in. Naaza's foot came out of the crushed stomach covered in blood and other gore. Naaza didn't even both to look down and kept walking.

Shin gagged and wanted to throw up.

Naaza looked back at Shin, obviously hearing the gag. "What's wrong?" He asked, stopping. Shin just stared at him. How could he be so unfeeling? Naaza stepped back through the body and came toward Shin. "Are you all right"

Naaza's foot was covered in more gore now, making soft squishing sounds as he walked. Shin seriously wanted to faint. But, if he did, Quatre would get hurt in the fall. Shin was wondering what to say to Naaza when he looked back at the body Naaza had stepped in and saw something new. Shin's dagger was in the dead man's throat.

"I killed him." Shin muttered. Naaza had only damaged the shell; the empty husk left behind after Shin had taken the man's life. "I killed him."

Touma put an arm around Shin. "It's all right. You did it to help Kitty and they were doing horrible things to him. You did a good thing."

"I killed him." Shin started to cry and while Touma tried to comfort him, Trowa took Quatre from Shin. Probably a good thing, Shin might have dropped him at this point. Naaza just looked on confused and Shin knew he didn't understand the problem. "I killed him! I killed him!" The chant was getting hysterical, louder and louder, but Shin couldn't stop himself.

Shin had never killed anyone before and that man wasn't the only one. How many of his knives had he used tonight? Shin knew his aim was almost as good as Cathy's and he wouldn't have missed. How many had he killed?

Shin put his hands up to cover his face, but he couldn't stop seeing the bodies. They were everywhere and they all seemed to have knives in their throats. Shin leaned against Touma and slowly slid to the ground with Touma hugging him.

"Please, don't." Touma kissed my cheek. "Please. Please, it'll be okay. I'll find some way to make it okay"

"How?" Shin asked, still crying and not daring to look at him.

Touma didn't have an answer.

A drop of ran hit the top of Shin's head. This'll never be all right. _Nothing will ever fix the fact that I'm a killer. I'm as bad as any murderer. I killed all these people. It doesn't matter that it was for Quatre, I still killed them._ The rain started to fall heavier, turning quickly into a downpour. The water gave no comfort as it usually did, only making Shin colder. Shin didn't want to be like this. _I don't want..._

"We are under attack."

Shin had to look up at Trowa's calmly announced warning. He stood in the rain with Quatre held tightly against his chest and he was looking up into the night sky. The rain had blotted out the stars and the moon, but there were many dots on light in the distance moving quickly toward us. "The warehouse must have had an alarm and we triggered it when we attacked."

"Why would anyone want to guard an empty warehouse?" Trowa asked.

Naaza answered, "They didn't. They were guarding him." He gestured to Quatre and then back at the large mechanical robots. "What are they?"

"Mobile suits." Trowa answered. "I can't tell what kind from this distance, but it really doesn't matter. I don't think that we can fight them like this. Even your attack might not be effective against so many of them."

Naaza looked slightly offended and reached for his swords.

"Wait." Touma stood up and stepped away from Shin, a strange gleam in his eyes. "Let me. I think I can do this."

Naaza let his hand drop away from his swords when Touma reached onto his back and pulled the collapsible bow off his back. The bow automatically unfolded in his hands. "You know your sure kill?" Naaza asked, even as the mobile suits landed, surrounding them.

From out of the quiver on his back, Touma pulled a golden arrow and notched it in the bow. "I believe so." Touma pulled back the arrow, concentrated for a moment on one of the mobile suits nearest to him.

One of them raised its gun at us and fired a warning shot. Touma answered by letting loose his arrow with a cry of, "SHIN KUU HA! (SUPER SHOT HEAVY VACCUME WAVE!)" The mobile suit was easily destroyed. The arrow traveled like a comet with a long tail of brilliant light. When it struck the mobile suit, the mobile suit was engulfed in the light and when the light dimmed, there was nothing left but a few scraps of metal.

Naaza nodded his approval. "Very nice."

The other mobile suits started attacking, firing their immense guns at them. Trowa covered Quatre with his own body to protect him while Naaza and Touma jumped in to fight. Naaza had no hesitation using his sure kill on the giant robots and Touma fired his arrows quickly, though sometimes he missed.

Shin sat on his knees in the mud, letting the rain run down his face and he just couldn't stand it. 'I don't want anyone to die. I just want to go home and have everyone safe. Why don't they just leave us alone? They must see that Naaza and Touma are far stronger than they are. Why don't they run away and leave us alone?' One of the robots manages to backhand Touma like an insect and he goes flying back, bashing into and through a tree.

_That's it!_

"BUSSO SUIKO!" Shin screamed and the yoroi came to him quickly as if it had been waiting for him to call. It was exactly as Shin remembered seeing in his dreams and in the sea. At last, he'd finally given in to it.

Shin glared at the robots and swung his yari (trident) around so it was pointed at the mobile suits. _Maybe I am soft, but they're hurting MY Touma!_ "CHOURYUU HA! (SUPER SHOT HEAVY SUPER FLOW SMASH!)" From out of the yari a tidal wave bursts out.

A moment later the mobile suits are twisted ruins of what they were glistening wet, even in the darkness with soggy puddles around them. "I did it again." Shin said softly. It wasn't even hard. Shin wasn't even winded and he'd destroyed those things and all the people in them. He couldn't stop himself.

"Of course you did." Naaza answered easily. "You did very well. I didn't think that Suiko would be so powerful"

Touma stood closer to Shin and looked at Naaza defiantly. "That's not helping. Can't you see how bad he feels?"

"We are warriors. Destined to be warriors since before we were born. The very nature of a warrior is to kill." Naaza said simply. "You may as well get used to it."

"These aren't normal mobile suits." Trowa called, making everyone all looked at him. Shin hadn't realized that Trowa had put Quatre down and gone over to the wreckage and now seemed to be sifting through it. "They're unmanned."

"Mobile dolls." Touma said. "I read about that, somewhere. The Alliance was developing the idea to take humans out of war and only use automated dolls to fight. These dolls are supposed to be able to make most fighting decisions on their own with orders coming from officers hiding somewhere safe. Supposedly it would be more effective to fight and cost fewer lives."

Trowa gave him a narrow look. "How do you know that? The Alliance does not give away information on their new prototypes."

Touma actually blushed slightly. "I do a little hacking in my spare time. Besides, I was taking an entrance exam to get into the Alliance so I learned at bit of extra stuff." He looked down at Quatre. "I don't think I'll be doing that anymore. The Alliance isn't quite what I expected it to be."

_Well, I guess that makes me feel a little better._ Shin thought. _At least I didn't kill anyone in those mobile doll things. I only killed a few people. Was I supposed to feel better?_

Naaza reached out to touch Shin's forehead. "I'm going to remove the block put on your link. You'll have the full connection, now." It was just a light touch with his fingertips and then...Wham!  
It stuck Shin light a thunderbolt. Touma smiled at Shin when Shin looked at him and Shin knew without any doubt that this was how it was supposed to be. Whether or not Shin liked the yoroi or the fighting or the killing, this was where he belonged. The minds and hearts of Ryou, Seiji, Xiu, and Touma surrounded him, dancing around my mind. It felt like he'd come home for the first time.

**Wufei-**

Nasty and Wufei sped down the road, taking back road short cuts whenever possible, and Nasty gave Wufei directions with a tap of her hand. She would tap his right shoulder if he were to go right and the same with the left.

_I can't believe I'm going to save Alliance officers._ It went against everything Wufei have been raised to do, but he couldn't deny the evidence in front of him. The doctors who'd trained Wufei and the other pilots had betrayed them and innocent people would die if Wufei didn't do something.

There was a vibration at his hip and Wufei scowled at the small cell phone. There was no time for phone calls! Wufei reached down and turned the phone off so he could concentrate better and dropped it into the saddlebag of the motorcycle. Whatever it was couldn't be that important.

**Mama Fan-**

Mama Fan looked sadly down at the phone in her hand. There was no answer and then the person on the other end had hung up for some reason. Mama Fan's hand shook as she put the phone down. She didn't know what to do. All her years trying to be strong for her family and it was all falling apart. Her babies were vanishing before her eyes. First the attack on A0206 and now Xiu had gone missing.

_Oh, baby. Where are you?_ Mama Fan thought to herself. Her apartment, once too small for her large family, now seemed big and empty. Only Lai was left, cooing happily in her mama's arms. _I need you, Xiu. How can I do this alone?_ Mama Fan held Lai closer. _I want my babies. I want you all home._

There was so no laugher in her home, lately. No sounds of squabbling or the TV blaring too loudly or even Xiu's heavy footsteps when he ran through the apartment. Mama Fan had never, in her wildest dreams, thought that Xiu would run away. But he was a good fighter so it was unlikely that he was kidnapped. He must have just walked away. Now she couldn't even find Wufei. Mama Fan had hoped that he might know where Xiu was, but he'd vanished, too.

Mama Fan held Lai closer to her chest, protectively. "I can't live without my family. I just can't." If anything happened to Lai, Mama Fan didn't know what she'd do.

**Noin-**

"He was here tonight." Noin told her two friends.

"You're sure it was him?" Zechs asked.

"Of course I'm sure. He was definitely that boy Seiji healed in the hospital. You must not have gotten a good look at him at the party because of those other two, Sh'ten and Anubisu, but I saw him plain as day. There was something going on between him and Seiji, too. They know each other and I think I know how. Heero, that's the kid's name, acts very much like Seiji did when he first came home. Anubisu gave me the clues to find the guy who took Seiji and he said he saw Heero there when he met this guy. Heero and Seiji must have been kidnapped together."

"So," Trieze spoke up for the first time. "Do you think he's a threat to us?"

Noin thought back on what little she knew about Heero. "If he decides to fight us, yes. I think he might be very dangerous. He looks like a child, like Seiji, but he's more than he seems."

It happened so suddenly. Trieze gasped and then fell, with none of his usual grace, hitting the floor face down.

"Trieze!" Zechs jumped to him, pulling Trieze into his lap. Trieze didn't just faint, he had never fainted before and there was no reason to it. His eyes had simply rolled back into his head and he fell.

It was then that they saw the dart, one of those with the red feathers in the end, like one would use to sedate animals, sticking out of the back of Trieze's neck. "What the...?" Zechs pulled the tranquilizer dart out. Trieze seemed to be fast asleep and wouldn't respond to anything at all.

Noin snarled and reached for her gun. _How dare someone attack my home? My friends!_ But before she could do anything, a burning pain made her drop the gun and clutch her bleeding hand. She'd been shot!

"Just relax, Noin." A familiar voice said. "It won't do any good to fight, your house is surrounded."

Noin almost had a heat attack when she saw the woman who held the gun walk into the house.

"Lady Une?" Zechs said in disbelief. "What are you doing"

The spectacled woman gave him a sardonic smile. "I should have thought that would be obvious, at this point, even for you, fruit loop." Behind Lady Une several other armed men walked in holding rifles aimed at them. They weren't soldiers, but they had death in their eyes. They were there to kill.

"Don't you think Trieze's allies might object when you kill him?" Noin asked. It was rather obvious what was going on and Noin was not happy about the betrayal. "His men are very loyal and they will not serve someone who murdered their commander." She knew very well that if word got out that Trieze was murdered, at the very least, there would be open rebellion.

Une shook her head. "But, my dear, you just don't understand. I'm not going to kill Trieze. I'm going to kill you," She tapped Noin's nose with the tip of her gun. "And you." She shifted the gun over to Zechs. "Trieze will wake up with the bodies of his two beloved friends, cold next to him. For added shock value, I might just lay Zechs on top of Trieze so our dear Mr. Kushranada can wake to find himself covered in blood. Yes, that might drive him over the edge." Une held two guns in her hands, one holding the tranquilizer darts and another ordinary one for killing.

Noin couldn't take her eyes off Une, Trieze's 'supposedly' trusted aide and swallowed hard. They were going to die. Her gun was five feet from her hands and she knew very well how sharp Une's reflexes were. One of the reasons she was Trieze's aide was because of her abilities as a bodyguard.  
Zechs still had his gun, but there were too many. Even if they managed to kill Lady Une, the other gunmen would kill them anyway and probably Trieze, too.

This was the end. They were going to die.

Une brought her gun to Noin's face and pulled back on the trigger.

Continued...


	22. No Job for a Man

**Chapter 22: No Job for a Man**

**Wufei-**

Wufei and Nasty came up to the driveway of Noin's house when Wufei skid his motorcycle to a stop and helped her off the bike. Wufei took a deep breath. Now, the hard part. The part women always reacted badly to. "Nasty, please stay out of sight."

"What?" She asked, her eyes narrowing and Wufei knew she was hearing an implied insult.

"If there are assassins going after your brother, then it's very likely that they would see you as a target or potential hostage. Please, stay here and out of sight." Wufei really thought that he was being very sensible and reasonable.

There was a tense moment as Nasty considered what he was asking. Finally, with a bright, cheery smile, Nasty said, "Sure."

Wufei blinked, not sure that he'd heard right. Did she just agree without a fight? Somehow he'd thought she would be harder to convince than that. Still, he really shouldn't argue when she was finally starting to act sensibly. "I'll be back as soon as I can." He promised, pulling his gun out and readying it for action before he headed off into the shadows of the trees.

Wufei made it to the window of the house without trouble and hid himself just under the window when he heard voices inside. The conversation left little to the imagination and Wufei knew the voice of the woman from the tape he and Nasty had watched. The woman, Une, was threatening her prisoners and telling them point blank that she was going to kill them.

Wufei would have preferred to have his sword at that point, but knew that it was more efficient to use the gun. Peering cautiously over the edge of the window to get a look at the situation, Wufei took in the situation with a practiced eye.

He saw one man with reddish hair on the floor and unconscious. From the information Wufei had been able to collect, that man was Trieze Kushranada, the target Wufei had been looking for. Trieze didn't look very dangerous with his head lolling on another man's lap. Trieze's face was pale and his eyes were closed, as if he were simply asleep. Wufei knew that the man must have been injured in some way, but there was no blood that Wufei could see.

The man who held Trieze's head had very long white hair and looked absolutely furious. His arms were protectively around Trieze's shoulders, but he looked at their captor hatefully.

_I'm not sure who this is, but I can tell from his eyes that he's no civilian._ Wufei thought.  
Worst of all, to Wufei's mind, was the fact that the Une was actually pointing the gun right at the forehead of a young woman with short dark hair. The woman, small and delicate looking, obviously had no place in a battle. _How dare they threaten a woman!_ Wufei thought indignantly. Wufei simply couldn't imagine dragging a woman into a fight like this.

The evidence Wufei and Nasty had found on the video tape less than an hour ago, though, pointed to Une as being the ringleader of the assassins. Wufei, though he was very intelligent and was one of the finest minds of his generation, couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that a woman, A WOMAN, was in charge of this whole mess. It just didn't seem natural to him.

_How am I supposed to fight a woman?_ He thought. Could he actually bring himself to kill her? Still, she was the criminal here. She was the one who'd killed Meiran.

Une wasn't alone in the crime. Also, in the room, were a dozen men wearing a sort of cast off military uniform. _Mercenaries, most likely._ Wufei thought with a sneer. _Greedy fools who fight for nothing more than money. Ah, and there's Mayers._ Wufei touched the dragon pendant Meiran had given him that was just under his shirt. _Be with me, Meiran. I'm doing this for you._ When he thought the time was just right, Wufei jumped up and in through the open window.

The battle was short, but quite spectacular. Wufei attacked and the distraction was the perfect time for the victims to defend themselves. The young woman, presumably Nasty's friend, Noin, grabbed the gun from Lady Une's hands and the two wrestled for control of it. Noin showed greater strength that Wufei would have thought from her small body and fought well against Une who was several inches taller and looked much stronger.

The white haired man pulled out a gun from under his sweatshirt and started firing, never moving far from the man on the floor. It was all quite exhilarating, but Wufei didn't have time to appreciate it properly. He was engaged fighting with the man, Mayers. Mayers, well-dressed even when on a job like this, had tried to tackle Wufei. Wufei, fortunately, was faster and jumped out of the way, only to roll on the floor and end up with his back to a closed door.

Mayers had brute strength, but no proper training, so Wufei was confident that he'd defeat the man quite easily. "You shouldn't mettle in grown up business, little boy." Mayers said, grinning as he aimed his handgun lazily at Wufei. "You might get hurt."

"Fool." Wufei couldn't help but smile back, envisioning the man with a bullet between his eyes. If Wufei could get his knife out, a slit throat would be even better. "You think that because I'm a child, I'm helpless?"

Mayers' smile vanished, replaced by a scowl. "Damned kids. I hate kids. First Trowa and now you. Well, one of you out of the way is better than nothing, I guess." Mayers fired and Wufei dodged under the aim, grabbing Mayers by the legs and bringing him crashing to the floor. "What does it take to kill you brats!" Mayers demanded, trying to shot again.

Wufei knocked the gun out of Mayer's hands and reached for the knife still hidden in the band of his pants. With one hand on Mayers' throat to keep him still, Wufei didn't know Mayers' other men coming toward him until rough hands grabbed him by the arms. Wufei was dragged off Mayers and pinned to the floor. He couldn't tell what was going on around him, or what had happened to the three people he'd come to rescue. The men holding him muttered,

"What's this kid eating? He's strong as a horse! Hold him, don't let him get free!"

Meanwhile, Mayers had gotten back on his feet and picked up his gun again. "Coward!" Wufei screamed furiously from his vulnerable position. "Can't you even fight without a gun in your hands or do you just shot the defenseless?" He fought as hard as he could, but Wufei couldn't get even an arm free with so many men holding him down.

"I'm just here for the money, kid. I don't care how the job gets done, so long as it gets done." Mayers smirked and pulled back on the trigger.

**Byakuen-**

Byakuen slept deeply, still exhausted by the loss of the blood he'd given Anubisu. His sleep was troubled by a dull roar of...something in the background. It wasn't loud enough to wake him from his sleep, though. Byakuen lay on the floor in the same room where Anubisu had left him and really didn't want to move, yet.

"Wake up, Byakuen."

Byakuen tried to ignore the familiar voice.

"Come, you great beast." The voice continued, intruding into Byakuen's rest. "You are missing a grand battle."

Byakuen slowly opened his eyes at the insistent voice. Still feeling to tired to move, Byakuen just looked up at Sh'ten. The red haired man was dressed as he usually did when he wasn't expecting a battle, in a green kimono with pink sakura blossoms. His eyes were sad, though he smiled slightly. "You don't want to miss the excitement, do you? Get on your feet, you lazy creature."

Struggling, Byakuen did as Sh'ten told him. Shaky at first, Byakuen took a moment to steady himself. He could clearly hear the sounds of fighting in the room beyond and the scents of unfamiliar humans mingling with a few he did know.

Byakuen snarled, _An enemy? In my den!_ He knew that Seiji and Ryou were gone, but Luc was still there along with Trieze and Zechs. The thought of Zechs made Byakuen wary, the white haired human was a dominant male and therefore dangerous. Trieze, however, made Byakuen feel down right hostile. That male was an alpha and was only barely tolerated in Byakuen's den.

Gathering what little strength he had, Byakuen burst through the door with a mighty roar. The humans in the room yelled and forgot what they were doing and started to run and scream, abandoning their fight. Byakuen saw Luc fighting with another female and Zechs was trying to defend Trieze against other attackers. Obviously, they were under attack.

A cub, some young male Byakuen hadn't seen before, was being held to the floor just in front of Byakuen, but the males holding him ran when they saw the white tiger. The cub looked up at Byakuen, his eyes wide with awe and fear.

Byakuen didn't waste time examining the cub, but turned his gaze back to the attackers. Byakuen jumped, landing on one of the running humans and holding him to the floor as they had done to the black haired cub.

**Wufei-**

Lady Une kicked Noin in the ribs hard, probably breaking a few of the ribs from the way Noin grunted and bent double. Noin's grip weakened for a just a second, long enough for Lady Une to pull it out of Noin's hands. Just before she could do anything with the gun, though, a most...unexpected assistance arrived.

The door just behind Wufei seemed to explode, showering the room with shards of wood. The biggest white tiger Wufei had ever seen jumped over his head and landed mere inches from Wufei's feet. The mercenaries scattered at the sight of the tiger and Wufei was finally free. It stood just in front of Wufei, so he was forced to look up to see it properly, and Wufei was awed by the sense of raw power radiating from the creature. For one of the very few times in his life, Wufei was speechless. The tiger was a mass of muscle; its brown, unearthly eyes scanned the room until they seemed to focus on Mayers, running like the coward he was.

The tiger's muscles tensed and then it sprung, jumping completely across the room and bringing Mayers to the ground before the man had even reached the door. It threw back its head and bared its huge fangs at the terrified Mayers, seeming to try to decide if it should eat him or not.

Lady Une let go of Noin when the tiger had appeared and dropped her gun as she ran away into the nearby forest while everyone was busy watching the tiger and Mayers. Une didn't notice that she'd also dropped her second gun, the one she'd used to drug Trieze.

**Nasty-**

As if Nasty was going to let Wufei just blunder into danger all alone! Wufei seems to be very sweet, but Nasty still wasn't sure if she could trust him. Still, he was apparently naïve enough to believe the sweet little girl smile she'd given him and, for that, Nasty was thankful. It would make everything easier.

Nasty knew that if she'd tried to argue with Wufei about her going with him, he'd have just gotten stubborn. There was really no point in trying to reason with some people and, Nasty suspected Wufei was one of those types of people. There was also no point in standing out there fighting while her friends might be getting killed inside the house.

Nasty noticed that Wufei had left the keys in his motorcycle. How very helpful. Nasty pulled the keys out of the ignition and slipped them in her pocket. If Wufei were telling the truth about just wanting to talk to Trieze, she'd give him back the keys with an apology. If, however, he were working for some enemy, Wufei wouldn't have a ready escape.

She had to keep her promise, though. Nasty was nothing if not a woman of her honor, so she decided to keep to the trees and just watch. That way, she could keep her promise to stay out of sight and still know what was going on.

Nasty watched Wufei sneak stealthily up to Noin's modest house. He wisely kept himself hidden in the dense shrubs and trees that surrounded Noin's home until he was close enough that he was right under a window. Nasty was too far away to hear what was going on, but Wufei seemed to be listening to something. Suddenly, he jumped up and dove in through the window.

There was the sounds of gunfire and Nasty's mouth fell open. She'd expected this, but...she hadn't really been prepared to hear.

Out the door ran Une, her face a strange mix of fear and fury.

Nasty watched the tall woman run into the forest, away from the fighting, while she considered the house that was now silent. There was nothing she could do here now. Whether or not anyone was alive in the house, Nasty knew the one thing she could do.

Before anyone came out of Noin's house, Nasty ran back to Wufei's motorcycle and jumped on. Just before she turned the key in the ignition, Nasty remembered something. Wufei had dropped his phone in the saddlebag of his motorcycle when it had rung earlier. Nasty picked up the phone and looked at it for only a second before she dropped it on the ground. It might not be important, but Nasty had a sneaking suspicion that whoever was trying to call Wufei needed him. It would be best if he found the phone as quickly as possible. With any luck, Wufei was fine and he'd find the phone when he came looking for his motorcycle.

Nasty took off, back to her home. She knew exactly where Une was headed. To where all the important files were held - the Kushranada mansion. Trieze made it a habit to store all his confidential and business records at his house instead of at one of his businesses. If Une were after anything valuable, it would be at the house.

_Forgive me, Wufei,_ Nasty thought, feeling quite miserable about stealing the motorcycle. _But this is no job for a man._

**Several minutes later-**

Nasty had reached her home and was hiding several computer disks and a certain videotape under the mattress in her bedroom. With the evidence taken care of, Nasty ran out to Trieze's bedroom to get the most important ingredient she needed for Lady Une's visit.

_Now,_ Nasty thought. _Where did he put it? I know he keeps some handy._ She began to rifle around in the drawers of Trieze's bureau. Finally, she found what she was looking for with a smile of triumph. _Here it is!_ She pulled down a small vial and looked inside at the tiny amount of white powder that was still inside. _Just enough._ She held the vial tightly and ran to the kitchen.

After telling all the men who were working on rebuilding the mansion that they could have the day off, Nasty worked on the final details of her plan. Just in case her plan failed, Nasty left a note for Trieze, telling him where the evidence against Une was hidden and put it in the cookie jar. Trieze couldn't keep his fingers out of the cookies (a little known fact about him.

Nasty pulled out a box of raspberry tarts and lay them neatly on a silver tray. Nasty sprinkled the white powder on the raspberry tarts and then started making the tea. She knew the traitor would be here in just a short while.

**Wufei-**

"Byakuen, no!" Noin shouted to get the tiger's attention as it loomed over the screaming man. "Don't kill him, we need..." Byakuen sunk his teeth deeply into Mayers' throat. Blood gushed all over the floor and Mayers only twitched for a moment before he died. Noin turned pale for a moment and then slightly green, but shook it off and went back to see that Trieze was all right.

Wufei was still on the floor where the mercenaries had left him and he rather thought that it was time to get up. Wufei pushed himself up, but didn't even make it to his feet when the tiger, Byakuen, swung its large head toward Wufei. Wufei froze and prayed that if it was going to kill him, at least that his death should be swift. He had no desire to be mauled to death by an animal.  
Byakuen left Mayer's body and walked slowly toward Wufei, its pace was slow as it padded toward him on its huge feet. Mayer's blood was smeared on Byakuen's muzzle, making the beautiful animal look all the more savage. Wufei couldn't take his eyes off the animal, almost hypnotized by those chocolate brown eyes that were steadily coming toward him.

"Trieze? Are you all right?" A man's voice asked.

Wufei didn't look away from the tiger, who was still approaching him, to see what was happening with the people who hadn't runaway. Right now, he just didn't want to die.

A slight groan and Wufei knew that Trieze was waking up. Byakuen was now directly over Wufei, his front paws on either side of Wufei's arms, and leaned in toward him. The tiger put his face only inches from Wufei and sniffed him. Wufei swallowed hard and forced his eyes down, remembering something he'd read that meeting an animal's eyes was like a challenge.

Byakuen put a paw on Wufei's shoulder and gave him a little push, as if it were testing him. Wufei let himself be pushed back down onto his back as he didn't want to provoke the tiger any more than necessary, and filled his thoughts with peaceful memories of Meiran.

Somehow, Nasty's image floated into Wufei's mind.

Finally, after what seemed like hours of Byakuen examining him, the tiger took a long lick of Wufei's face before backing away with satisfaction in its eyes. Byakuen yawned, showing off its long teeth, and lay down in a corner of the room, promptly falling asleep.

Wufei just blinked and wiped the tiger slobber off his face with one of his sleeves. He was very, very relieved that he was still alive.

"Who are you?" Wufei looked up to find yet another gun at his head. It was the white haired man, now wearing a silver mask, who held the gun. "What are you doing here?"

Wufei didn't fear guns. Tigers and other creatures with long teeth, yes. Guns, no. He'd had plenty of training with them himself that the idea of guns had lost the menace most people felt for them. Wufei looked behind Zechs, presumably this was the Zechs whom Nasty had told him about, and to the other two people in the room.

Noin was helping Trieze to his feet and Trieze, finally awake, was holding his head as if he had a headache. At least Une's plan had failed and now Wufei have time to decide if Trieze was guilty enough to die or if he should let Trieze live.

"I am Chang Wufei. May I presume you are Trieze Kushranada?" Wufei pointed at Trieze.

All three of them looked at Wufei sharply. Trieze, who seemed to be getting control of himself a little more, answered, "Yes, I am. What can I do for you?" Trieze was still leaning against Noin, but his eyes looked alert and Wufei could almost see the gears turning in the ginger haired man's head.

"I've come at the request of your sister. She was a bit worried about you when we discovered a conspiracy threatening your life."

This simple sentence made them all pause and Wufei saw Zech's stance relax just a bit, but it was enough that he knew he was safe enough to stand up. Wufei found that Trieze and Zechs were both much taller than he, seeming to tower over him.

"How do you know my sister?" Trieze asked as Noin helped him to stagger forward. "Where is she"  
Wufei ran a hand through his long, loose hair (his pigtail had fallen out during the fight) and decided to tell the truth. Lying was dishonorable, after all. "She's outside waiting with my motorcycle." Even as he said this, Wufei heard the ominous sound of a motorcycle engine starting up. _No. She wouldn't!_ Wufei raced to the window he'd recently jumped through just in time to see a trail of dust and his motorcycle disappearing into the distance. _Yes, she would._

Trieze was suddenly by Wufei's side, though slightly unsteady, and gripped the windowsill tightly enough to turn his knuckles white. "Who was the attacker?" He asked calmly.

Noin snarled, "Lady Une."

Trieze turned to her with a look of complete disbelief. "What?"

"I'm sorry." Zechs said. "Noin is right. It was Une with a group of mercenaries. They were going to kill us all."

Trieze took a moment to digest this. He swallowed hard and licked his lips as he rubbed the back of his neck where the tranquilizer dart had hit him. "Is she dead?"

Zechs shook his head. "She ran out when Byakuen came out. There was enough of a commotion that she managed to get away."

Trieze looked down at Wufei. "Who are you to my sister?"

Wufei blinked at the change in subject and then refocused. "I am nothing to her. I came to see you and I met Nasty at your home."

"Me? What can I do for you?"

Wufei thought about telling the whole truth, but decided against it. So long as he didn't actually lie, then his honor would be intact. "I just wanted some answers. Where would Nasty have gone with my motorcycle?" It had taken him many hours in mama Fan's kitchen to earn the money for that motorcycle, after all.

Trieze was quite for a moment, thinking. Then his eyes got wide. "Oh, dear. Noin, may I use your car?"

"Sure, but why?"

"I do believe my dear sister has gone back to the house."

"So?" Zechs asked.

"I'd like to get there before Lady Une does. I don't think I want Lady Une to find Nasty all alone"  
Wufei had alarms blaring in his head. Nasty? Alone? With a killer? When Trieze walked out to a flashy green car, Wufei was instantly in the passenger side, not even bothering to ask. He wouldn't let Nasty get hurt!

Trieze raised an eyebrow, but got in the driver's seat without a word.

Zechs leaned down, putting his hands on the roof of the car while he spoke to Trieze thought he open window. "Are you sure you're alright to drive? Do you want me to go instead?"

"No." Trieze smiled. "I'm fine now. Whatevershe gaveme seems to have worn off."

"Then we'll meet you at the house." Noin added in. "We'll be there as fast as we possibly can."

**Noin-**

Trieze nodded and he and Wufei pulled away, speeding toward Trieze's house.

"Wait a minute." Noin grabbed a hold of Zech's arm before he started running without her.

"What?" Zechs looked back at her, only to find that Noin had run back into her house.  
She found what she was looking for on her living room floor. Byakuen was still asleep in the corner, snoozing like a baby. "Such a good boy." Noin said out loud. "I'll treat you to a steak dinner when you wake up."

On the floor, Noin picked up Lady Une's fallen gun and then her eyes landed on the gun that held the tranquilizer darts. A naughty smile spread across Noin's lips as an idea blossomed and picked up the gun. Noin took out two unused darts and the naughty smile grew slightly as she put both darts in her pocket and then ran out to meet Zechs.

Noin and Zechs immediately started running, hoping to get to Trieze's home in time to help. As they ran, Noin told Zechs, "If Trieze even scratches my car, I'll kill him in cold blood. You know that, right?"

"Right."

Just as they reached the end of the long driveway, where the driveway met the public road, Noin noticed something half hidden in the leaves on the ground. She stopped running and bent down to pick up a small, black cell phone.

"Is it yours?" Zechs asked.

"No." Noin frowned. "Seiji doesn't own one, either. I wonder..." Just as she was saying this, the phone vibrated.

Noin blinked and then answered the phone. Before she could even say a word, a man's deep, yet cold, voice on the other end said, "05, report."

Noin frowned, but kept silent and just listened.

"05, I repeat, report on current mission."

Still, Noin kept quiet, but now she moved so she and Zechs could listen to the strange voice together. "05, why aren't you responding? You have new orders." The other person on the line abruptly hung when he must have figured out something was wrong.

"That was weird." Noin commented.

"Keep it. Maybe Wufei dropped it." Zechs advised and he started running again. He obviously didn't want to see Trieze in danger again. Especially if the phone was Wufei's and Wufei was a possible threat. What sort of orders was Wufei likely to get over the phone?

Noin slipped the phone into a pocket and kept running, also.

**Une-**

Lady Une had just reached the Kushranada home when Nasutei opened the front door and waved cheerfully. Lady Une found herself invited into the parlor with a sweet smile and she tried to calm herself.

"Please sit down. It's so nice to see you again, Lady Une."

Lady Une sat in Nasutei's modest parlor and smiled as Nasutei set out the tea and raspberry tarts. Lady Une just loved raspberries and it was no secret that she couldn't resist them.

"What did you want to see me about, Nasutei-san?" Lady Une asked as Nasutei sat across from her.  
"I just wanted to thank you. My dear brother can be so thoughtless sometimes so he probably hasn't thanked you for all your loyalty to him. I wanted to say how much I appreciate you taking care of my brother all this time. You've been with him for years now, haven't you? Giving him such faithful service all that time and I'll bet he's never thought to thank you." Nasutei's smile was almost blinding in its innocence and purity.

"Mr. Kushranada is a very good employer." Lady Une replied, pleased by Nasutei's gushing. She took a bite of one of the tarts and savored the taste. "I have no complaints about my work."

"That's good. You know, I wanted to know if you'd look out for him when he goes to the colonies next week. I've heard you were supposed to stay here, on Earth, when he left. To be honest, if you were to go with him, I'd feel much better, knowing that someone reliable was with him."

"I will certainly do as you wish." It was all working out too easily! Lady Une wanted to smile at how easy Nasutei was making this for her. The girl obviously trusted her completely, which was just the way Lady Une wanted it, and Lady Une had to try very hard not to laugh aloud. There would be no more sneaking around now. Trieze would be awake by now and Noin and Zechs would have told him what had happened. However, Nasutei would make a very convenient hostage. Lady Une picked up a cup of tea and sipped it.

For about twenty minutes they chatted about this and that, just passing the day, when Lady Une suddenly found that she couldn't breathe. Une's eyes widened and she dropped the teacup she was holding as she put a hand to her throat. Une sucked in a deep breath, but it didn't help. Her head was spinning and her lungs were painfully demanding oxygen. Une reached out a hand to Nasutei, "Help!" She gasped desperately. Nasutei took another sip of tea and leaned back in her chair, with a content smile on her face.

"Is something wrong?" Nasutei asked sweetly.

Lady Une looked at Nasutei, but couldn't quite focus on her. Her head was buzzing and then her knees gave out. Une landed on the floor with a thud.

"You don't look well, Lady Une."

Une again took a deep breath and screamed with all her might, but Nasty kept smiling. "Now, now. There's no need to overreact. It's only poison, you know. I thought you liked poison."

Une knew, as she slumped to the floor, her vision darkening, that Nasutei knew what she'd done and this was revenge. 'All my hard work and planning for nothing.' Une thought, laying her cheek on the thick carpet. She could only barely make out Nasutei, now. Only just hear the words of her murderess.

"You really should learn to curb your taste for raspberries, you know." Nasutei picked up the nearly full plate of tarts and emptied them into a wastebasket. "They aren't good for your health." Nasutei walked back to Une and knelt down, tilting her face up so she could look at Une directly. "I suppose this is what you'd call poetic justice, right? You tried to poison my brother and, as you know, turn about is fair play."

Une died a long overdue, well-deserved death.

**Nasty-**

Nasty sat back in her chair and listened to the sound of Noin's beloved car speeding up the driveway. Trieze had arrived and Nasty rather hoped that he'd brought back Wufei with him. The Chinese boy seemed quite nice and Nasty thought that she'd like to get to know him better.

Nasty let her eyes stay fixed on Une's unmoving body for a moment. She found that she couldn't even feel any sympathy for the woman she'd just killed. Nope, no remorse about what she'd done at all. The world was definitely a better place without Une.

**Wufei-**

Wufei wondered exactly what he was going to do now. Trieze Kushranada wasn't the sort of person that he trusted. There was something about Trieze that made Wufei nervous. However, the man was now displaying nothing but concern for his sister and seemed to be single-mindedly focused on driving as fast as Noin's car would go.

Then there was another problem. Mayers had said the name, Trowa. Was it the same Trowa that was Shin's friend? It seemed likely. There couldn't be too many people with that name and Trowa did say that it was his fault someone had tried to kill Shin. Did that mean that Trowa was linked, somehow, with Une? Was Trowa to be his enemy?

No. Trowa had said he was trying to get away from Mayers group.

"I should warn you, if you touch my sister in any way that is disrespectful, I'll kill you." Trieze said without taking his eyes off the road or raising his voice from a calm level.

"I wouldn't touch any woman without respect." Wufei said, turning slightly red with embarrassment. How dare Trieze suggest that Wufei would do such a thing! "And I have no interest in your sister."

"I am not blind or stupid, Chang. I know my sister is very beautiful and very charming. She is also an heir to one of the world's greatest fortunes. There have been many boys and men who have courted her and I have not found one worthy of her." Trieze looked at Wufei from out of the corner of his eye. "Men have vanished for insulting my sister in the slightest manner. She is the only family I have that I care about. I will not have her hurt."

Wufei's eyes narrowed at the implied threat. Trieze was, indeed, as dangerous as Wufei had thought. He didn't answer Trieze, though. He had no interest in Nasty, though.

Really.

Honest.

It was just a mystery that her face kept dancing across his mind and that he kept hearing her laugh.  
Wufei turned back to watch the road, away from Trieze's piercing eyes, and tried to focus on Meiran.

_She just died! Why am I thinking of Nasty?_ Wufei wanted to hit himself. _I can't be so shallow that I'd abandon Meiran so soon after her death! I love her. With all my heart, I love her. So why am I thinking of Nasty?_

They arrived at Trieze's house and rushed in to find Une dead on the parlor floor and Nasty finishing her cup of tea.

"What happened?" Wufei asked in disbelief.

Trieze, however, didn't seem as phased. He went immediately to the telephone and pushed one button. "I want a clean up crew at my home. Yes. Thank you." He hung up the phone and held out a hand to Nasty. "Why don't we go into the music room?" He indicated that Wufei should follow them as he escorted Nasty into an adjoining room.

Nasty didn't say a word as she went to the piano and sat, calmly tapping out a soft melody. "Don't get so upset, Wufei." She said.

It was only then that Wufei noticed he was pacing. He immediately stopped. "What did you do, Nasty?" Wufei had a horrible suspicion that he knew what Nasty had done.

"I killed her."

Trieze had his hands clasped behind his back and was looking out a window, waiting for the clean up crew. "You knew she'd come here." He stated bluntly.

"Yes."

"You should have waited for me, let me take care of this...situation. I don't want you involved in this sort of thing." Trieze said, his voice was strained, clearly upset with what Nasty had done.

Nasty stood up and went to stand next to her brother. She put her hands on his arms and forced him to turn around so he would look at her. "Don't be silly. You're a man, Trieze. Men, with very few exceptions, will hesitate when it comes to killing a woman. For a split second you would have paused and it would have given her the opportunity to escape or kill you." Nasty smiled to take away any insult. "I'm a woman so I have no such reservations. I don't hesitate. I have no regrets, either."

"How did you do it?"

"I borrowed the cyanide you keep in bedroom."

Trieze sighed, apparently accepting what she said and he pulled her in for a hug. "You should go back to grandfather Yagiyu. There isn't so much danger there and I don't want you taking chances, Nasty."

Nasty hugged him back, but over Trieze's shoulder, her eyes bored into Wufei. She had the same eyes as her brother, Wufei realized. A demanding, burning gaze that didn't let you look away.

**Noin-**

Noin and Zechs arrived after a white van marked, "SPEEDY CLEANING" was pulling away from the house. The two friends exchanged a bleak look, as they knew exactly what Trieze used that van for, and continued to the house, hoping for the best.

They found Trieze in the music room muttering to himself and Nasty sipping tea while Wufei was shifting uneasily from foot to foot, seeming uncomfortable. Noin found out later that Trieze had threatened Wufei again with a long slow death if word of what Nasty had done ever reached outside the house.

As everything looked to be fine, all her friends were safe, and Une was nowhere in sight, Noin went to Wufei while Zechs went to speak with Trieze. "Is this yours?" Noin pulled the black cell phone out of her pocket and handed it to Wufei.

He seemed surprised to see it and took it. "Yes, thank you. I didn't know I'd lost it." As soon as he took it, the phone vibrated again. Wufei turned instantly from being an uncomfortable teenager into something more serious and dangerous than Noin had seen, even when he was fighting back at her home.

"Here." Wufei said sharply.

Noin paid close attention to Wufei's reaction as he listened to the other person. The boy said nothing, but his face turned red with anger and his lips pressed tightly together in a thin line.

"I see." Wufei said finally, before hanging up. Even after he'd hung up, Wufei looked like he wanted to kill someone.

"Is something wrong?" Nasty asked, coming over to him and looking worried.

Wufei took a deep breath. "No. Nothing at all..." The phone rang again and Wufei answered it. "Here." Wufei was very near to throwing the phone through a wall, Noin could tell. Then, again, his expression abruptly changed as he listened to the caller. "What!" He screamed at the phone. "What do you mean he ran away? Do you know why? Any clues?" This conversation must have been from a different person and Wufei quickly hung up. "You'll have to excuse me," He said politely. "I have a family emergency." He gave a quick bow and almost ran for the door.

"Wufei, I owe you a great debt." Trieze's voice stopped Wufei dead in his tracks. "You've saved my life and the lives of my only friends along with my dear sister. If I can ever do anything for you, please don't hesitate to contact me."

Wufei stared at Trieze as if trying to tell if the man was being serious or not and then ran out. Seconds later they all heard the sound of his motorcycle fading into the distance.  
Noin smiled. Well, everything was taken care of. Time for fun.

Zechs and Trieze were still talking about something, but Noin didn't really care what it was about. She pulled one of the tranquilizer darts out of her pocket and wandered casually over to stand behind Trieze. She waited a few minutes, before she stabbed Trieze in the middle of his back with the dart.

Trieze, once again, fell like a sack of potatoes.

"Noin! What are you doing!" Zechs was quickly on his knees beside Trieze.

"Don't get so upset, Zechs." Noin smiled. "That should keep him under for another twenty minutes. That will belong enough."

"Long enough for what?" Nasty asked. "What's going on?"

Noin smiled. "Zechs is going to ravish him."

Zechs looked like he was going to die of embarrassment on the spot until he saw Nasty was smiling, too. "It's about time. You know where his bedroom is, right?"

"Um, yes." Zechs answered uncertainly. "But..."

"We'll need something to hold him down with." Noin said to Nasty. "Do you have any rope?"

Nasty thought. "Rope? No, I'm afraid not. I do have several lengths of chain in the garage, if you'd like to use them." She offered helpfully.

Noin hugged the younger girl. "You're a darling, Nasty! Chains are even better than rope." She looked at Zechs, surprised to find him still on the floor and looking up at them with bafflement on his face. "Well? What are you waiting for, Zechs?"

"You two can't be serious." Zechs said. "I'm not going to rape him while he's drugged, what do you think I am!"

Noin grinned. "Now, let's not be hasty. I didn't say anything about rape, did I? You can wait until he wakes up. The chains just add a little excitement to the experience. You know he'll like it." She looked down at the helpless Trieze, admiring his fine, sculptured features. "He'd be disappointed if you didn't do something."

Zechs still seemed reluctant to take advantage of the situation, though, so Nasty leaned over him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Don't you think my brother is pretty, Zechs-kun?"

"You know I do."

Nasty brushed his cheek with a kiss. "I've heard him talk about you, you know. Do you want to know what he thinks about you? He likes your long hair. Better than anything, he likes your hair long, like a cape. He also likes your nose and he thinks it's a shame to cover your lovely nose with that horrid mask. Trieze once told me he wished you would..." Nasty leaned closer to Zechs ear and started to whisper.

Zechs blushed deep, dark red as he listened to her.

Noin knelt next to Trieze and ran a hand through Trieze's feather soft hair. "There's a large, unoccupied bed in the next room." She gave Zechs a cheeky grin and went on, "You two were so close at the party, maybe you should continue it here."

Zechs paused and then slowly took off his helmet. "Where did you say the chains were?"

**Continued...**

Une was murdered with cyanide. Before anyone asks, I'll explain how it works. Cyanide basically causes one's lungs to shut down. You can still breath, technically, but your lungs won't bring any oxygen into your body. It's called chemical asphyxiation, I believe. That's why Une could still speak and scream when she didn't think she could breath.

Yes, it's true. I have WAY too much time on my hands if I have time to research poisons.  
Hee! Wouldn't Naaza be proud of me, though?


	23. Kissing

"WHO WANTS TO LIVE FOREVER?" by Queen.

**Chapter 22: KISSING **

**Trieze-**

Trieze woke with a splitting headache. Again. It was becoming a habit.

He lay still and kept his eyes closed, hoping that it was all a very bad dream. Trieze was laying in a bed, one that felt very much like his own. The sheets under him were soft and worn to a comfortable state. He could even smell after-shave lotion.

Still not opening his eyes, Trieze frowned. He didn't use after shave lotion and that meant that someone was in the room with him. Trieze couldn't remember much of what had happened after he'd gone back to his own home and what he did remember was hazy. He had been driving with that Chinese boy, Wufei, and they'd found Nasty at the house...and...and there it all went blank.

Deciding that perhaps it was best that he find out what was going on, Trieze shifted with the intention of sitting up. 'What in the world?' Trieze couldn't move his arms or legs and realized that he was bound. 'It is my room.' Trieze thought when he opened his eyes. At first, even the dim light hurt, sending arrows of pain through his brain. Soon, though, the pain receded and Trieze looked around. Someone had lit candles all around his room, setting them on his bureaus, chests, the mantle over the fireplace, and even on the floor. The room was literally aglow in candlelight. Someone had gone to a great deal of effort, though Trieze couldn't find it in himself to appreciate it very much.

The fact that he was naked didn't help his disposition.

Trieze had noticed his state of undress right away, naturally, but it didn't bother him so much as the fact that someone had undressed him and set up all the candles without disturbing him. Trieze pulled at the chains that tied him to the four posts of his large bed, but the effort was in vain.  
Panic started to set in when Trieze remembered he had been with his sister, Noin, and Zechs. If someone had attacked again where were the others? Another rescue by a mysterious stranger was, to say the best, unlikely. How many people had been in on Une's conspiracy?

_I made the mistake of thinking Une was in control of everything._ Trieze reprimanded himself. _I should have known better. She must have been getting orders from someone and now they've come to finish the job. Maybe I should have let her kill me. At least I wouldn't be humiliated in front of enemies._

A shadow caught Trieze's eye, just at the end of the bed and hidden behind the not-quite-see-though-gossamer curtains that hung off the canopy of his bed. It was very romantic in the right circumstances, but this was not the time for romance!

"I know you're there. You may as well come out." Trieze tried to make himself sound as calm as possible. _I've dealt with worse situations than this. Of course, I wasn't naked and tied down those times._

A long pale hand reached around and took hold of the edge of the curtain. A pause that seemed to last forever before the stranger started to inch back the curtain.

Trieze felt like his heart would explode, he was wound so tightly. Finally, a face was revealed. "Zechs!" Trieze exclaimed at the sight of the ever-elegant face. The long mane of magnificent ivory hair and the lovely slant of Zech's nose were a welcome sight.

"You are mistaken, commander Kushranada." Zechs said softly with a touch of amusement in his voice. "I don't know any Zechs. My name is Millardo."

_Of course._ Trieze thought. _He's taken off the mask._ "My apologies. I'm under a bit of stress, as you can see..." Trieze's voice trailed away as Ze...Millardo came into full view to stand at the foot of the bed.

Millardo's beautiful body was bare from the waist up, showing off the muscles he'd worked for during his military career. The only clothes he wore, in fact, was a pair of very tight fitting white trousers.

"Stress?" Millardo purred as he knelt on the bed between Trieze's spread legs. "Perhaps I can help." Millardo put his hands on Trieze's knees, sending a shock up Trieze's spine. "Or, perhaps not." Millardo took his hands off Trieze and leaned back to look at Trieze appreciatively with burning eyes. "What do you think I should do?"

Trieze was already sweating and couldn't take his eyes off Millardo. So beautiful and commanding that Trieze was in seventh heaven just looking at the man, even with Millardo teasing him like this. This was like a dream come true!

"Well?" Millardo asked with a touch of impatience. "Shall I leave you here? I'm sure your sister will be amused to find you here like this."

"No!" Trieze said urgently and lifted his head as much as he possibly could to look at Millardo better. "I shouldn't like you to leave at all." He tried to speak in a more calm tone, but it wasn't working very well.

Millardo turned a wicked smile on Trieze. It was a smile that Zechs would never have worn, one tinged with danger and dark thoughts. Not at all like sweet, shy Zechs. Millardo stood and for a moment Trieze was afraid that Millardo really would leave him here like this, but Millardo only came to sit at Trieze's side. Millardo put a hand on Trieze's chest, lazily running one finger from naval up to the sensitive base of Trieze's throat.

"You shouldn't like me to leave? Is that the shallow depth of your emotion? You must speak more eloquently if you wish to convince me. I know you are capable of swaying the harshest of hearts, if you want to. Tell me, Rosebud, what do you want?"

Trieze could do nothing but stare up at his friend with open-mouthed astonishment. He'd never seen this side of Zechs! Trieze had never seen such raw sexuality and desire in Zechs. Millardo was certainly a lot more aggressive than Zechs.

Millardo moved his hand to Trieze's ear, gently rubbing it between his thumb and forefinger. Unfortunately, this happened to be Trieze's sensitive spot and he gasped with pleasure at the touch of Millardo's cool fingers.

"Is that your only response?" Millardo leaned in close enough for Trieze to feel Millardo's warm breath on his face. Millardo's long hair smelling of vanilla draped over Trieze's face, practically blinding him and drowning him in the scent of Vanilla. "This is not enough to convince me you want me to stay." Millardo ran his tongue delicately over Trieze's ear.

"OH, GOD!" Trieze cried out at the sensation and pulled at the chains. Overwhelming. In his whole life, Trieze had never felt something anything that made him feel so weak, yet so very good. "Please, Millardo, please..."

Millardo pulled back only enough so he could look down at Trieze and smile, touching Trieze's face with his free hand. "Ah, now I am convinced." Millardo pressed his lips against Trieze's and Trieze moaned with pleasure.

**Youja-Kai-  
Before Sh'ten's death-  
Rajura-**

The five boys stuck close together when we walked through the gateway and into the Youja-Kai. Only Ryou and Duo seemed at ease, as they'd done it many times before. Seiji and Heero wore identical masks to hide anything they felt and Xiu was scowling, looking around at the landscape distrustfully.

"Is this place for real?" Xiu asked loudly. He didn't seem to have any problems with saying what he was thinking. Xiu looked down at the marshy land we'd come out in. "The whole place is like this?"

"Certainly not." Anubisu answered. "This is where Arago's palace city is. That way," Anubisu pointed in one direction. "Is this mountains and over there," He pointed in the opposite direction. "Is the grasslands."

Heero frowned a little deeper. "Isn't that a little vague?"

"We know where everything is." Anubisu answered with a shrug. "What else do we need to know?"

Seiji was looking around. "Which way is North?"

"There is no North. Or South, for that matter." Rajura answered. "Things are different here. Don't try to think of it like this is the Ningen-Sekai or you'll just get confused." Rajura took one last look at Sh'ten who was walking steadily toward the palace city.

BE CAREFUL. Rajura thought.

I ALWAYS AM. Sh'ten paused and looked over his shoulder, though he was to far away for Rajura to see the expression on his face. IF ANYTHING HAPPENS.

IT WON'T! Anubisu said quickly, but Sh'ten ignored him, speaking directly to Rajura.

TAKE CARE OF THE OTHERS.

Naaza almost yelled at Sh'ten. DON'T TALK LIKE THAT! YOU'RE TEMPTING FATE!

Sh'ten sent sweet soothing emotions toward Naaza. MY SWEET 'ZA-CHAN. FOLLOW RAJURA, SHOULD I FALL. I LOVE YOU ALL.

With that, Sh'ten shut his mind. Like a door being closed, Sh'ten fully closed himself off from us and Rajura knew there would be no way to contact him again unless Sh'ten wanted to.

"Where are we going?" Xiu asked interrupting Rajura's thoughts. "How are we going to find the little girl we're looking for?"

Rajura was rather proud of the way Xiu was progressing with his power. He'd been the first of his companions to be taken by the yoroi and, in Rajura's experience, it should have been most difficult for Xiu to gain control of himself. Instead, Xiu had almost complete control of his strength without the Yoroi and was rapidly mastering control of his mind.

"There are only two places she could be if she isn't in Arago's palace city." Anubisu said. "Saranbo's fortress..."

Duo started to swear violently, hearing this, and Ryou looked like he'd kill if had a chance.

"We'll just hope she isn't there." Rajura said. "It would be preferable if she were with Kenbukyou (Lord Saberstrike). At least with him, we know she'd be relatively safe. We'll go to the castle of Kenbukyou." Rajura told everyone significantly. He wasn't entirely surprised by the blank look Xiu gave him. What could a boy raised in the Ningen-Sekai know of a demon lord?

Ryou and Duo both stopped walking and just looked at Rajura with wide eyes. Well, apparently they both knew what Rajura was talking about.

"Who's he?" Xiu asked. He hadn't missed the stunned looks on Ryou and Duo's faces. "Do you guys know him?" He asked Ryou.

Xiu looked at Ryou for a moment and Rajura felt a slight buzz in the back of his mind. This was a new situation for Rajura, too, but he knew that the Xiu and Ryou were talking. Ryou and Seiji had an almost a constant buzz going on between them and Rajura could even feel a buzz between the other boys who'd just gotten their yoroi.

Rajura wondered if the boys could feel it when he and his brothers mind talked.

"Well, I've heard of him." Ryou said carefully.

"Who hasn't heard of him?" Duo asked, as surprised as Ryou about their destination. Duo started waving his arms around excitedly. "Kenbukyou is one of the three great lords of the Youja-Kai but I've never seen him before. Why are we going, 'Jura-san? I thought you didn't like Kenbukyou."

Rajura answered easily. "I don't. He's a demon and you can't like a demon. I do trust him, however. Kenbukyou is very honorable and we have a few similar goals. We're just going to talk."

They walked in the opposite direction from the palace of Arago, to the great grasslands where Kenbukyou's nation of people lived. Unlike Arago, who preferred his army without thought or willpower, Kenbukyou had real people (not humans, but people nonetheless) who followed him out of loyalty. It was a dangerous place to go, so Rajura wasn't making the journey lightly. Kenbukyou's people were fierce and very territorial. They were known to attack for very little reason and were dangerous enough that even the Ma-Sho generally kept out of Kenbukyou's domain unless Arago had ordered differently.

As they walked (They had to avoid using power so Arago's attention wouldn't be drawn to them) Rajura worked on a plan to get them into Kenbukyou's fortress without being attacked. It was true that they could probably kill all of Kenbukyou's forces without much trouble, but he really didn't want to get Kenbukyou angry.

Anubisu was leading them, as the swampy land slowly turned drier and indicated they were nearly in Kenbukyou's territory, and Rajura brought up the rear. He wanted to think this whole thing through before they reached Kenbukyou's castle and, walking behind everyone, Rajura was able to watch them.

Duo kept up an almost constant chatter to anyone who would listen while he stayed next to Heero. Heero kept looking around, as if he expected an attack at any moment. Rajura and Anubisu both liked Heero. He seemed like such a sensible lad.

Rajura realized quite early on in their quest that there was something wrong with Seiji. There was something odd about the way Seiji walked and how he always kept Ryou on his right side. Rajura thought about it long and hard, considering the way Seiji walked and how the blonde boy seemed to be slightly off balance at times. It was very familiar.

HE LOST HIS EYE. Anubisu informed Rajura through their link. HIS SISTER TOLD ME WHEN WE WERE AT HER HOME THAT SOMEONE KIDNAPPED AND HURT HIM WHEN HE WAS A CHILD. THE RESULT IS HIS MISSING EYE, BUT SHE DOESN'T KNOW EXACTLY WHO OR HOW SEIJI WAS HURT, OTHER THAN THE EYE.

Rajura quickened his pace until he was next to Seiji. "How did you lose your eye?" Rajura asked quietly as they walked along.

Seiji started, surprised at the question. Ryou and Xiu had stayed pretty close to Seiji throughout their long walk, but Seiji sent them a look and they both walked ahead, closer to Duo and Heero, and leaving Seiji alone with Rajura. Seiji lifted a hand to make sure his hair was still covering where his missing eye should be.

"Your hair is fine." Rajura assured him. "I could tell from the way you walk that something was wrong." The older man tapped his black eye patch with one finger to indicate his similar disability. "How did you get yours?"

"Punishment. You?"

"I took it myself in the grips of a nightmare." Rajura didn't elaborate and Seiji didn't ask him to. For that, Rajura was grateful. Rajura held up a hand and conjured an eye patch out of thin air. "Would you like one?"

Seiji stared at the eye patch for a moment and then took it gingerly. "It won't hide my face."

"Your face?" Rajura had thought that it was only the eye that was hurt.

Seiji turned his back to the others and pulled back his hair to give Rajura a full view of the damage. Rajura took a deep breath. "I guess the patch won't do much good. I can cast an illusion, if you like, to make you look..." He really didn't want to say that Seiji looked abnormal.

Seiji, with his hair securely masking his face, looked ahead of them at Ryou who was now casting a concerned look back at them. "He's worried about me."

"Anubisu tells me Ryou was always a very loving boy. He gives his love warily, but absolutely." Rajura felt Anubisu and Naaza's stirrings of protective instinct and was affected by it. Seiji had better not hurt Ryou. "See that you don't cause him to regret that it was you he gave his heart to."

Seiji didn't seem to register the veiled threat. "He hasn't seen my face, yet."

**Later-**

"Isn't there any night here?" Xiu demanded in an irritated voice. They'd been walking for many hours and Xiu kept looking at the twilight sky.

"No." Anubisu answered, equally irritated, though his was a long standing irritation. "There is no day or night, only twilight. Time isn't the same as it is in the Ningen-Sekai."

It suddenly occurred to Rajura that it was about time he worked on getting his memory back, too. Anubisu and Naaza already remembered the children, but it might be handy if Rajura knew what Kay looked like when they found her.

I'M GOING TO CALL MY SPIDERS. Rajura told Anubisu as they stopped to set up camp so they could rest. The children weren't used to walking for hours on end, though Heero and Seiji didn't seem the least bit tired. "I'd like to have my memory back."

"Good idea." Anubisu said out loud. MAYBE THEY CAN HELP YOU LIKE BYAKUEN HELPED ME.

Rajura didn't miss the tense undercurrent in Anubisu's mental voice as he spoke. Anubisu took risks when he fed on blood. The blood became apart of him and Anubisu had only once taken blood from anything other than human. He'd been lost far from civilization, long before he'd come to the Youja-Kai, and the only source of blood had been a wolf. It was from that wolf that Anubisu become tied to the natural world. Since that moment, Anubisu was more in touch with animals than anyone else ever could be.

Well, except for Rajura with his spiders. Also, there was Naaza with his serpents. They were all tied to a particular animal with the exception of Sh'ten. If Sh'ten had any bond with an animal, Rajura didn't know about it Now that Anubisu had taken such a large amount of blood from Byakuen he was worried about what other changes would come over him. Already, Rajura noticed that Anubisu's blue hair seemed to be growing rapidly and his fangs seemed to be longer than they had before the feeding from Byakuen.

"Ryou, start a fire." Rajura told the young man as he prepared for a visit with his familiars. "Everyone make yourselves comfortable, this might take a little while."

Ryou did as he was told, without hesitation, holding his hand out over a pile of sticks the other had gathered for him. Ryou closed his eyes for just a moment before the flame burst to life. Ryou smiled proudly at what he'd done for a moment before he moved to sit near Seiji.

Ryou leaned against Seiji, getting comfortable, and Xiu sat by himself. He was near enough to touch Ryou and Seiji, but instead he pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his knees. Xiu closed his eyes and Rajura felt him reach out to touch the minds of Touma and Shin before he smiled contentedly.

Duo sat very close to Heero, though he didn't touch the solemn boy. Heero cast a puzzled look at Duo and Duo answered, seeming to know exactly what his friend was thinking.

"Rajura's going to talk to his friends. You just watch, this is really cool." Duo smiled happily.

Rajura lay down in the tall grasses and closed his eyes, shutting out the world and even closing his mind to his brothers. COME TO ME. He commanded. Slowly, Rajura started to feel small creatures crawling over his legs and arms. Hundreds of them and it felt so good to have them back with him. I NEED SOME HELP. Rajura explained his loss of memory to the spiders who were now nearly covering him and they knew what to do.

**Heero-**

Heero watched with only slight interest as the white haired man lay down on the ground. What kind of friends was he talking about? It made no sense to Heero, but then the purple sky didn't make any sense to Heero. He didn't like the Youja-Kai at all and, judging from the way Seiji kept looking around suspiciously, it looked like Heero's former partner didn't trust this world, either.

Duo inched a little closer to Heero, but was still watching Rajura intently. Duo worried Heero. Duo acted without any apparent discipline and showed his feeling without care, waving them around like a banner. Duo was just as alien as this world he came from and just as confusing. Heero looked away from Duo to look at Rajura, hoping to see what was so interesting. Heero froze, his eyes going wide, when he saw what Rajura was doing.

_Oh, God! Spiders!_

The horrible things were crawling from out of the grass and covering Rajura head to toe, slowly but surely engulfing the man. Big ones and little ones, all species of spiders and even some that couldn't exist on Earth.

Heero felt suddenly cold all over and he reached out with one hand to grab Duo's hand in a tight grip.

"OWWW! That hurts! Heero? Are you all right?" Duo took a closer look at Heero. "You're sweating."

Heero knew it was true. He could feel sweat running down his back and down the sides of his face. Fighting for control of his body, Heero swallowed hard but couldn't take his eyes off Rajura and the swarming mass of spiders.

"S-S-Spiders!" Heero managed to say in a choked whisper. It was his one fear, the one thing that could break down all his training.

"It's okay." Duo reassured him. "The spiders like Rajura. He won't get hurt. You're afraid of spiders, Heero?" Duo sounded surprised, but this was no time for Heero to be worried about his pride! A particularly large spider, bigger than a tarantula, moved to the top of the pile of spiders and waved its feelers around.

Heero squealed and jumped. Unable to control his reaction, Heero shamefully wraped his arms around Duo and pressed his face in Duo's neck. Duo put his arms around Heero and held him tightly, occasionally patting Heero's back or stroking his hair. "Don't worry, everything's okay. Gee, Heero, you're shivering like a mouse."

But Heero couldn't help himself. All he could see was all those spiders. Everywhere spiders, and they were climbing all over Rajura. The only thing solid and safe was Duo. Duo's hair also smelled pleasantly like lilacs.

"My poor little nezumi (mouse)." Duo crooned softly. "I'll take care of you."

Heero didn't care what Duo wanted to call him just now, so long as Duo kept the spiders away.  
Finally, Duo tapped Heero on the top of his head. "You can look, nezumi. The spiders are all gone."

Heero peeked out, still keeping a tight hold of Duo's arm and shoulder, just in case. Sure enough, Rajura was standing up and everyone was looking at Heero amused by his reaction. Everyone, that is, except Seiji who fully understood the gravity of Heero's phobia. Even Duo was smirking at Heero.

Now that the crisis was over, Heero tried to move away from Duo, but Duo held him tight and leaned in closer, so their faces were almost touching. "You're so cute when you're scared, nezumi."

Heero realized his vulnerable position. Duo was entirely to close and Heero felt how very strong Duo was. Heero didn't know what to do and simply froze with his mouth half-open. Duo leaned in closer and closer, looking like he was going to...

**Flashback-**

Heero didn't even bother to struggle against the men anymore, like he had when he was younger. He lay passively while they touched him and tried to force his mind wander to other things other than where he was and what was being done to his body. Complex math, computer rewiring, medical treatments, anything so he wouldn't have to feel.

"Such a good boy." The man kneeling over Heero whispered. Heero kept his eyes closed and felt the man press his lips against Heero's. "You didn't even cry, this time." The man ran his hand down Heero's naked ribs and onto his hip. The man pressed his lips against Heero's again, but this time pain followed as the man bit Heero's lips, hard. Heero could taste his own blood, but didn't react.  
Calculus, military tactics, mechanics of a car engine, anything but what was being done to him.  
The pain continued on ever increasing levels until Heero was left bloodied and bruised. Only two minutes after the man had left, Heero opened his eyes.

Doctor J stood where he had watched this part of Heero's training, leaning on his cane and watching from behind his thick goggles. Various other people involved in Heero's training were also watching, had watched the entire event and were finishing up their notes on his progress.

"Get dressed Heero." Doctor J said coolly. "Time to test your computer skills."

Heero obediently stood and showed no sign of pain as he pulled his clothes back on. God, it hurt! He wouldn't let any pain show. Can't let anyone know how much it hurts or they'll hurt him more.

**End flashback-**

**Duo-**

Duo wanted to squeal with happiness when Heero latched onto him. As soon as the spiders had started to come to Rajura Heero had panicked and Duo was actually a little pleased to see that Heero wasn't so inhuman as he acted sometimes. Duo patted Heero's back him, telling Heero that it would be all right.

_Mine._ Duo thought as he mentally did a happy little dance. _Mine, mine, mine._

Even when the spiders crept off Rajura and Heero was finally able to look, Duo didn't want to let him go. Heero was much more vulnerable than Duo had first thought if he reacted so strongly to something like spiders.

Heero looked up at Duo with wide, still frightened, eyes. Heero almost looked like he was verging on tears, but refused to let them fall. Duo saw Heero's lips tremble and wanted, more than anything, to kiss Heero and make him feel safe.

Duo leaned in, pulling Heero closer to him. Suddenly, Duo felt Heero stiffened and noticed that Heero had stopped trembling. His eyes had a far away look in them, as if he was somewhere else. Heero was staring into space, not at Duo, remaining as still as he had been when Duo had been holding him.

"Heero? I..." Duo started, but he was interrupted when Seiji stood up and walked over quietly.

Seiji knelt by Heero's side and, to Duo's surprise, embraced Heero gently. Seiji started to whisper to Heero, so quietly that Duo couldn't make out what he was saying. Slowly, Heero started to relax, his eyes focused slightly and he leaned ever so slightly into Seiji's arms and away from Duo.

Duo wanted to kill Seiji. Beat Seiji over the head with his own internal organs. How dare he touch Heero?

Finally, Seiji pulled away, sitting on his heels and watched Heero for a moment. Heero stood up, now completely back to his old self, and walked away. He walked a good distance away from the fire, then turned and sat with his back to them. Seiji went after Heero and sat next to him, but when Duo moved to go, too, Ryou called out for him to stop.

"But I want to go with Heero." Duo protested. "You know how I feel about him, Ryou! How can I just let Seiji go around hugging MY Heero!"

Ryou scowled and came to sit next to Duo. "I know what you mean. I'm not crazy about Seiji hugging Heero. But, Seiji told me Heero didn't like people touching him."

"Well, he didn't have any trouble with Seiji touching him, now did he!" Duo said indignantly.

"I think there's more going on then they're tell us, Duo. I've seen into Seiji's memories, like our brothers do, and they knew each other before they met us. I saw them together." Ryou looked at his feet and blushed. "I saw them sleeping in the same bed together."

"WHAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTT!" Duo stood up and screamed at the top of his lungs, earning curious looks from Anubisu and Rajura, who had sent all the spiders away and was now sitting with Anubisu.

"Calm down." Ryou told him. "I think they were kids at the time."

"You only think?" Duo sat again, taking a look over his shoulder at Seiji and Heero. "What do you think they're talking about? Hey," Duo got a sudden bright eye. "You can see into Seiji's mind, right? What's he thinking about?"

Ryou sulked, putting his chin in his hands. "Seiji's blocking his mind. I can't feel a thing from him. I guess, whatever they're talking about, they want to keep it private."

**Heero-**

Heero listened to Duo and Ryou talk, probably catching up on the time they'd missed when they'd been separated, but he couldn't exactly hear what they were saying. Duo seemed very happy to be back with his family and Heero wondered if Duo would stay here, in the Youja-Kai, when this whole little adventure was over. Heero didn't much like that thought, but it wasn't unthinkable.

"He tried to put his mouth on mine." Heero said softly. He knew very well that Seiji had just walked up and was now standing silently at his side.

"It's called kissing. Ryou kissed me the other day." Seiji responded in the same quite voice as he sat next to Heero, but he was facing the fire where everyone else sat.

"You let him?" Heero asked, surprised.

"Yes."

Heero's frown deepened and he looked over at Ryou. "Did it hurt?" If Ryou had hurt Seiji.  
Seiji didn't laugh at the naïve question, but answered seriously, "No. It felt quite nice, really." To both of them, Heero's question wasn't a foolish one. In the past, the only time other people had touched them, the result had been pain. Such an intimate touch as pressing your face against someone else's seemed like a bold invitation to pain.

Heero gave him a skeptical look. "Why does Duo want to...kiss me?" Heero asked, experimenting with the new word.

"I think it's because he likes you. I felt, when Ryou kissed me, that he felt great warmth toward me. I remember being kissed, long ago. Before doctor J." Seiji's eyes lost focus for a moment as he recalled the half-forgotten memory. "My mother and father kissed me every night."

Heero tried to dredge up some similar memory. "I...I don't remember anything like that." There had been little before doctor J and none of it pleasant.

"Ryou likes Duo and I trust Ryou's judgment. He wouldn't like someone who would hurt people." Seiji said. "Do you like Duo?"

Heero puzzled over the question. The only person he'd ever liked was Seiji, but Duo was an entirely different matter. "Duo..." Heero paused, trying to find the right word. "Duo makes me feel"  
Seiji waited patiently for the answer. Feelings weren't easy for either of them to deal with. Finally, when it looked like Heero wouldn't find the word he was looking for, Seiji suggested, "Tingly?"

Heero's eyes opened wide, as if a whole new world had opened to him at the use of that one word."Yes. Yes, tingly. Right here." He pointed to his stomach. "I thought I was sick." Heero's look of bafflement was almost comical.

"Yes. Ryou makes me feel sick, too." Seiji confirmed what Heero had been thinking. "He makes me feel like I have a fever and need to vomit."

"Is this normal?" The idea of a person causing such a drastic change in him by their very presence was more than a little worrying to Heero. He wasn't sure he wanted someone to have such power over him.

"I don't know. But I do know, if I'm going to feeling sick I want it to be with Ryou."

"Perhaps it will be better for me to keep away from Duo. I don't want to be distracted in case of an attack."

"Do you think you can?" Seiji looked at him, curiously. "I can't stay away from Ryou, even if I try. The sick feeling makes me want to be with him. You came here to be with Duo, didn't you?"

Heero suddenly was very uncomfortable with this subject and tried to change it. He reached out and, with one finger, traced along one of Seiji's scars on his face. "You got these for me."

Seiji ran his hand through his hair, hiding his face, again. "I was protecting my partner. It was the right thing to do. If you chose to stay away from Duo, you will make him cry." Seiji was, as Heero remembered, almost impossible to distract.

"Cry?"

"Yes. He likes being near you and, I expect, he likes the feeling of being sick with you. He will cry and feel sad."

Heero pondered this. He didn't want Duo to feel sad. He just didn't want to worry about all these strange feelings he was having. There was no one here to give him orders, either. "Seiji, tell me what to do." He looked at Seiji expectantly, hoping his partner could help him with this new situation. Seiji had been always been better at making his own choices.

Seiji shook his head. "No. I think you have to choose this time, Heero. You have to decide what to do."

Heero's eyes widened. "Me?" How could he choose? He couldn't give himself orders, could he? Seiji started to walk away, leaving Heero alone to think about what he should do.

**Anubisu-**

AWWW, THEY'RE SO CUTE, DON'T YOU THINK? Rajura asked from where he and Anubisu watched the little drama unfold. Heero panicking when Duo got to close and Seiji rushing to Heero's rescue. Ryou and Duo getting jealous, even when they knew they didn't have to be.

IT'S SO SWEET I THINK I MIGHT JUST BE ILL. Anubisu replied, cuddling in closer to Rajura. He sat between Rajura's spread legs and had made himself comfortable leaning against Rajura's chest.

DON'T BE SO GRUMPY. I LIKE IT. WE HAVEN'T HAD ANY NEW ROMANCE SINCE SH'TEN GOT HERE. Rajura smiled down at his lover. Rajura tried to touch Sh'ten's mind, but found himself still blocked.

DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT. Anubisu said, cuddling in closer to Rajura. HE'S PROBABLY WORRIED THAT WE'LL FEEL THE PAIN OF ARAGO'S PUNISHMENT. YOU KNOW HOW HE IS.

Rajura did, indeed, know how Sh'ten was when it came to things like this. Sh'ten believed that, as general, it was his duty to take any and all punishment. It was a stupid belief, but Sh'ten lived by his honor.

THAT LITTLE IDIOT. Rajura muttered darkly. If Sh'ten would just open his mind, they could all share the pain and therefore lessen it for all. But NOOOOO! Sh'ten had to selfishly keep it all to himself. I'LL BET HE'S MASOCHISTIC AS WELL AS A SADIST.

Anubisu chuckled beside him. ONLY NAAZA KNOWS FOR SURE, BUT HE WON'T TELL.  
By the fire, Duo was still glaring at Seiji and Heero's backs and Ryou was trying to fight off his own jealously. Xiu was still in his own little world, apparently unaware of what was going on around him.

WELL, Anubisu admitted reluctantly. MAYBE THEY ARE A BIT CUTE. THEY SORT OF REMIND ME OF US WHEN WE WERE YOUNGER. While he cuddled with his lover, Anubisu's mind went unbidden to another. Short dark hair with an elfin face and a fierce expression - Noin.  
'Such a beautiful creature,' Anubisu thought wistfully. Strong and smart with flashing eyes when she'd looked at him that first time they'd met. There was also an attractive quality of mystery. He had no clue about what was going on in her mind and he never would.

What would Noin think of him? Anubisu looked down at his hands, clasped around Rajura's and saw that the hairs on the backs of his hands were growing as rapidly as the hair on his head. Long, thick blue hair was now clearly visible on the backs of his hands and it had only been a few hours since he'd taken blood from Byakuen. Rajura must have noticed, but he'd been to polite to say anything.

"'Jura?"

"Yes?" Rajura said as he bent his head down and started to chew on Anubisu's throat.

"Are you hungry?" Anubisu asked with a hint of a smile as he squirmed at the touch of Rajura's mouth.

"Only for you, cub, but not in front of the children. We don't want to corrupt them, do we?" Rajura was teasing, but the teasing feel of his mind abruptly stopped as he saw something in Anubisu's mind.

Rajura pinched Anubisu's arm and twisted painfully.

"Hey!" Anubisu shouted, jumping away and rubbing his arm. "What did you do that for?"

Rajura only glared. YOU WERE THINKING ABOUT -HER!

Anubisu realized, belatedly, that he hadn't shielded his mind from Rajura and had to blush. WELL, WHY NOT? SHE'S VERY PRETTY.

YOU ARE MINE!

Anubisu chuckled slightly. POSSESSIVE, AREN'T WE?

Rajura leaned in close, until their noses were nearly touching. DON'T MAKE ME HURT YOU, CUB!

Anubisu licked Rajura's nose. DON'T THREATEN ME, OLD MAN. THIS CUB CAN OUT RUN YOU ANY DAY.

Rajura harrumphed and pulled Anubisu back into his embrace for another cuddle. "What makes you think of her, anyway?" Rajura asked darkly. He clearly didn't want Anubisu spending to much time thinking about the woman.

DO YOU THINK I'M TURNING INTO AN ANIMAL? Anubisu asked, looking back at the coarse hairs on the backs of his hand.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Rajura wondered. I THOUGHT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THAT WOMAN.

SHE WOULDN'T LIKE AN ANIMAL, ANYWAY. JUST LOOK AT ME, 'JURA. Anubisu put a hand to his shoulder length hair. IT'S GOTTEN SO LONG IN JUST A COUPLE OF HOURS. MY FANGS ARE ALMOST AS LONG AS NAAZA'S AND I THINK MY VOICE HAS GOTTEN DEEPER, TOO. JUST LOOK AT MY FINGERNAILS! Anubisu held up a hand for Rajura to see, showing him the sharp points that had developed, like claws.

Rajura kissed Anubisu to reassure him. YOU ARE -NOT- AN ANIMAL! THESE ARE ONLY PHYSICAL DIFFERENCES AND THEY DON'T AFFECT WHO YOU ARE.

ARE YOU SO SURE? Anubisu turned fully around so he could look Rajura in the eyes. I FEEL DIFFERENT, INSIDE. I...I CAN'T SAY WHAT IT IS, REALLY, BUT SOMETHING INSIDE ME IS CHANGING.

YOU TOOK BLOOD FROM THE WOLF, TOO. YOU GOT YOUR BLUE HAIR AND YOUR FANGS, BUT THE CHANGES STOPPED AFTER THAT. Rajura tried to sound comforting. THESE WILL STOP SOON, I'M SURE.

NO! Anubisu pulled away from Rajura slightly. YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! THE WOLF WAS NINGEN, A MORTAL CREATURE. AFTER THE BLOOD DIED, THE CHANGES STOPPED. BYAKUEN IS NO MORE A NORMAL NINGEN TIGER THAN ARAGO IS! HE IS DEMON BORN, SO THERE IS NO WAY FOR HIS BLOOD TO DIE WITHIN ME. IT'LL STAY IN ME AND I'LL KEEP CHANGING, I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'LL CHANGE INTO. 'JURA, Anubisu's eyes suddenly filled with tears. I'M SCARED.

Rajura grabbed Anubisu and pulled in him close. NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, I'LL ALWAYS LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART AND SOUL, KUJUUROU.

Anubisu took a moment to regain his composure, thankful that the children around them didn't seem to realize what a scene he'd just made. I THINK YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE JEALOUS OF NOIN, THOUGH.

HER AGAIN? Rajura sounded annoyed to have the woman's name brought up again. WHY SHOULDN'T I BE JEALOUS?

WHAT KIND OF WOMAN WOULD LOVE A MONSTER?

STOP IT! I TOLD YOU AREN'T GOING TO CHANGE INTO A MONSTER, SO DON'T SAY THAT! BESIDES, YOU SHOULDN'T WORRY ABOUT WHAT SHE THINKS. YOU SHOULDN'T WORRY ABOUT SOME HUMAN WHO'S JUST GOING TO DIE. SHE'LL BE GONE IN A HEARTBEAT, 'NUBIE. JUST A HEARTBEAT AND SHE'LL BE DEAD. Rajura's mind was filled with sadness and Anubisu was shocked at what he discovered there.

YOU LIKE HER, TOO? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?

Rajura sighed. SHE'S MORTAL. SHE'LL DIE. WHEN SHE DOES, WE'RE THE ONES WHO'LL BE LEFT BEHIND. Rajura let his head lean onto Anubisu's shoulder. I DON'T WANT TO BE LEFT BEHIND. I DON'T WANT TO HURT.

Sh'ten died.

The control Sh'ten had kept over his mind shattered at the moment of his death and they all felt the agony as well as the emptiness in their hearts and minds when he was gone. Ryou and Seiji sagged against each other, feeling the echo of pain and loss. Xiu's eyes flew open and he slowly went onto his hands and knees, crawling until he reached Seiji and Ryou. Ryou reached out and pulled Xiu into their tight embrace without hesitation.

"What's going on?" Duo asked, but no one answered him.

Anubisu stood and staggered away from Rajura and the fire as he wept. Anubisu threw back his head and howled at the sky. A mournful, heart wrenching cry that echoed through the plains and tears ran freely down his face. Naaza, Rajura could feel, was in the midst of suicidal depression and only the presence of Shin was keeping him from taking his own life.

Rajura felt frozen. Completely unable to move, Rajura simply sat there while Ryou and Anubisu cried. While Xiu was clinging to Seiji and Ryou and Anubiu let out another howl.

"What happened?" Duo asked again, disturbed by what was happening, but Rajura still said nothing. Duo couldn't feel it, the bright light that had been extinguished far to soon.

No. Not Sh'ten. Sh'ten was the proud warrior child Rajura had raised to be a great leader. Sh'ten couldn't have died as Rajura had seen. Not begging on his knees before Arago. Begging for forgiveness so that they might all have more time to find Kay and get their family together again.  
Their eternal child shouldn't have died at all. The red sky child whose laugher could lighten up their darkest moods. The cruel child who tormented them until they were ready to kill him themselves. Both cruel passion and gentle love ruled his personality and fought for dominance within him.  
_We were supposed to be together forever._ Rajura though numbly. _Forever._

**_THERE'S NO TIME FOR US _**

**_THERE'S NO PLACE FOR US _**

**_WHAT IS THIS THING _**

**_THAT FILLS OUR DREAMS _**

**_YET SLIPS AWAY FROM US?_**

**_WHO WANTS TO LIVE FOREVER _**

**_WHO WANTS TO LIVE FOREVER _**

**_THERE'S NO CHANCE FOR US_**

_**ALL DECIDED FOR US **_

_**THIS WORLD HAS ONLY ONE SWEET MOMENT **_

_**SET ASIDE FOR US **_

_**WHO WANTS TO LIVE FOREVER **_

_**WHO WANTS TO LIVE FOREVER **_

_**WHO DARES TO LOVE FOREVER **_

_**WHEN LOVE MUST DIE**_

Rajura suddenly felt hands on his shoulders, shaking him roughly.

"Oniisan?"

Rajura blinked and realized Duo was in front of him. "What's going on?" Duo demanded for the third time.

Rajura swallowed hard. "Sh'ten...Sh'ten is..." How could he say it? How could he tell Duo that his mama was dead?

But Duo seemed to know. He shook his head and slowly backed away. "No."

"He's gone." Rajura said softly.

**Heero-**

Duo's breath became ragged and he stared straight ahead of himself in shock. "No." Duo whispered. "No, no, no." He hugged himself tightly and closed his eyes. "Oh, mama, please, don't be dead"  
Suddenly, Duo turned and ran as fast as he could go. Heero took off after him almost without thinking.

It was harder than Heero had thought to catch up to Duo. Duo must have had some kind of training to be able to run so fast, but he was distracted and tripped as he ran. Heero grabbed Duo's arm when Duo tried to stand, only to have Duo slip easily out of his grasp.

"Don't touch me!" Duo snarled, his long hair falling into his eyes and making him look even more wild than usual.

"You can't just run away." Heero told him. He wanted to make Duo feel better, but he really didn't know how.

"Fuck you!" Duo snapped, his teeth bared. "Like you even give a shit! You ice hearted bastard, you can't even feel love, don't tell me what to do!"

Heero took a step toward him, but Duo backed away.

"You're the one who doesn't like being touched. Well, you don't have to. Just keep away from me, you prick!" Duo told him and started to back away again.

Heero knew that Duo was getting ready to run again and he knew he had to stop Duo. Heero did the bravest thing he'd ever done in his life. He lunged forward and caught Duo in a hug. Duo struggled, but Heero held tightly, even when they both fell to the ground.

"Let me go!" Duo shouted while he fought, but Heero wouldn't let go. "Let me go, you ass! I don't want your filthy hands on me." Duo used every swear he could think of, but nothing worked. He bit and hit Heero as best as he could, but still, Heero wouldn't let go. Duo was starting to break down. "Please, let me go. Please." He started to cry and his fighting was slowing. "I want to be alone, Heero. I want...I want my mama." That was the final straw. Duo dissolved into a sobbing heap, letting Heero hold him.

Heero didn't know how to comfort Duo and he had no words of comfort. All Heero had to work with was his memories from his time with Seiji. Heero pulled Duo close and rubbed his back as Seiji used to do for Heero long ago when he'd been troubled by nightmares.

_I'll protect you._ Heero thought. _If I can do nothing else, I'll protect you._

Continued...


	24. Kenbukyou

**Chapter 24: KENBUKYOU**

**Ningen-Sekai-  
Nasty-**

Nasty and Noin smiled when they heard the faint, yet very recognizable, sounds coming from behind the door of Trieze's bedroom. With identical smiles, the two girls gave each other triumphant high-fives.

"Yes!" Noin shouted. "I knew Zechs had it in him, or rather Millardo had it in him."

Nasty was smiling smugly. "It's about time, too. Trieze needs someone like Zechs and Millardo. Now he can take care of Zechs and feel needed and have Millardo take care of him."

"Well," Noin said as she started walking toward the door Wufei had left open. "I should go home. I've got some important...er... errands to run."

Nasty, hearing something odd in her friend's voice, gave Noin a concerned look. "Is everything alright?"

Noin hesitated for a moment before saying, "I'll fill you in later, alright?" Noin's eyes darkened for a moment, but she didn't elaborate. With a forced smile, Noin asked, "What are you going to do? I presume you don't want to get in their way." Noin gestured toward the closed door where Trieze and Millardo currently were.

Nasty smiled sweetly, allowing Noin to change the subject. For the time being, at least. "I don't want to be here when they come out, if that's what you mean. Trieze will be all embarrassed, if I know him. I'll give him a few hours to get control of himself." Her eyes narrowed at Noin. "Now I've answered your question, you answer mine. Are you in some kind of trouble? You know we can help. There's not much Trieze and myself can't do."

"Please, don't worry about it. I just found something out about my brother and I have to take care of it." Noin tried to smile lightly, as if it were nothing to worry about, but Nasty didn't believe it.

"I've known you for far too long, Lucy." Nasty reminded her pointedly, using her childhood nickname for emphasis. "You've never been a very good liar. I'm going to assume that this is all about whoever kidnapped him all those years ago." Nasty held up a hand before Noin could say anything more. "I won't interfere if you're just researching, but I'm not going to let you put yourself in danger."

Noin nodded with a little half smile. "You're just like your brother, you know that? You're far too overprotective. I won't put myself in danger, I promise. I'm just going to track down someone." Nasty seemed to accept this so Noin continued, "Do you want to come back to my place while you wait for those two to come out?"

Nasty thought for a minute. "No, I think I'll go track down Wufei. He said something about a family emergency. Maybe I can help."

"How are you going to track him down?"

Nasty gave Noin an almost insulted look. "My dear friend, please don't underestimate the power of technology." Nasty gestured toward her computer. Nasty proved her point when, a few minutes later, she tracked down Chang Wufei to a small restaurant in China Town. "His guardian is his aunt, Fan Xiaoli. She is his foster mother since his parents died on colony A0206. Most of his family, the children of Fan Xiaoli, died on A0206. His favorite food is watermelon and he tends to talk in his sleep."

Nasty smiled and turned to look at Noin who was leaning over her shoulder. "I have a sudden craving for Chinese food. See you later." With that, Nasty ran out of the house.

**Noin-**

Noin laughed and shook her head. Again, Nasty proved how much like Trieze she was. She saw something she wanted and she went after it, or rather, him. As she tried to ignore the sounds coming from Trieze's bedroom, Noin turned off Nasty's computer and headed out to her car.  
Noin drove, but kept thinking about her latest visitors and wondered if Seiji were home yet.

_Fighting demons and God knows what else._ Noin thought to herself. _I wish I could understand what was going on a little better. But so long as he comes home safely, I'll be happy._

The worry that Seiji might, again, vanish from her life was almost too much to bear. Then, there were also those guys who had gone with Seiji. The young men she'd met had shown so much power, unexplainable and impossible power. That blue haired man with the intriguing scar on his cheek seemed to linger on the edge of Noin's mind.

As she got closer to her home, Noin's thoughts drifted away from the mysterious, dangerous strangers and back to the current obsession of her life. All that mattered was that she had the image of the guy who'd hurt Seiji.

A slow smile spread across Noin's face and she gripped the steering wheel tighter. With the image of the old man in her mind, Noin started laughing softly. Nasty wasn't the only one with a talent for computers.

It was only a matter of time, now.

**Youja-Kai- **

**Rajura-**

Duo came back to the camp fire smiling from ear to ear with tears dried on his cheeks. Heero walked slightly behind Duo, watching him carefully. Duo smiled broadly and was talking up a storm, as usual, but Rajura had known Duo for long enough that he knew it was a mask. Unfortunately, there was nothing to do until the mask cracked on it's own.

"There's no point in trying to hide anymore." Rajura said grimly. Sh'ten trusted him to take care of everyone, so that's what he would do. "Arago will be looking for us." He closed his eyes and willed his yoroi to come to him.

Anubisu did the same as did the younger warriors. "You shouldn't be here unarmed." Rajura said to Heero and Duo. He thought for a moment before producing a scythe out of thin air. Rajura's illusions were good enough that he could create weapons that actually could kill.

"Alright!" Duo took the scythe joyfully and gave it a swing. "It's perfect, 'Jura-san!" Well, at least Rajura knew Duo wasn't play-acting when he's happy about this. Rajura remember Duo's prized possession being the scythe that he used while he was practicing battle technique with his brothers.

"Of course it is. Now," Rajura turned to Heero. "What to do with you? I don't suppose you actually know how to use a weapon, do you?"

Heero pulled out his gun, useless in the Youja-Kai, and Rajura scowled. "I meant a REAL weapon. That thing's no good to us here. Oh, I'll just give you a sword." He created a lightweight sword, somewhat smaller than one of Ryou's katanas, hoping it wouldn't be to heavy for Heero's slight frame.

Ryou was a decent weight with plenty of muscles to swing his twin katanas. Duo was far thinner than Ryou and had never been able to develop the muscles that Ryou had. In fact, Rajura never could figure out how Duo had the strength to even lift the heavy scythe, let alone use it. Heero was probably the smallest fighter Rajura had ever seen. The boy was nothing but skin and bones. What few muscles he did have were lean and well used, but still, Rajura didn't feel quite right giving Heero any kind of weapon. The boy looked like he would snap in half if he were pushed just the slightest bit.

**Duo-**

Kenbukyou didn't have a city, like Arago, but ruled his people from a castle. More like the European style of castle, all stone with soaring towers and thick walls. There was even a moat around the castle, but whatever was in the moat, Duo couldn't guess. The orange slime, bubbling and hissing, certainly wasn't water! The castle was smaller than Arago's palace city, but it was impressive, nonetheless.

Xiu was having a hard time dealing with the fact that Rajura was having them all just sit around instead of going on the offensive. He seemed to be Duo's sort of guy, much preferring the straight forward approach to sneaking around and the restraint on his energy was taxing him.

"Why don't we just go in?" Xiu demanded finally as they sat low in the tall grass. Xiu held his naginata on his lap and was running his gauntleted hands over the black metal shaft almost unconsciously. "We're strong, stronger than them, I'll bet."

"Don't be arrogant. You don't know their strength, so you have no reason to say such things. It is wise to think before one speaks with Kenbukyou. He is most dangerous and making him angry without reason won't help Kay. Trying to barge our way into his castle won't serve any purpose. We want his help, not have him try to kill us."

"But if he's holding Kay captive," Xiu reasoned, "he's not going to just tell us. He'll probably tell us he doesn't know a thing and that we should go attack that other guy, Saranbo. In the meantime, he's got the poor kid locked up in back room and we kill his enemy for him. If he's going to be our enemy anyway, we may as well go in and get the first blows. Maybe we can surprise them."

Anubisu chuckled darkly. "There will be no surprise on our part, Xiu. Kenbukyou already knows we are here."

Xiu's eyes widened and he looked around, seeing nothing but the empty grasslands and the castle in the distance.

"Don't bother looking." Rajura said, waving his hand negligently. "You won't see them. Kenbukyou's people have lived in this land for near to eternity. They know how to conceal themselves when they wish to. They are all around us and we are trying to convey a non-threatening, yet respectable image."

Anubisu hadn't been talking much and seemed to be paying very little attention to the conversation, but his eyes were darting from side to side in a way that Duo recognized all to well. Anubisu was on guard, listening for anyone.

Rajura was putting the finishing touches on an illusion to get them all inside the city without having to fight. Part of that illusion was to put Heero and Duo in armor and make them look similar to the others. Duo admired his black armor with a smile and Heero seemed to accept his gray armor without reaction. Heero's, for some reason, had tiny wings on the wrists, like those of a dove. Duo's armor sported a black cape. The cape, though, was split down the middle and strangely seemed to resemble wings. Well, it looked that way to Duo, anyway.

Duo asked, "Rajura, this might sound silly, but I rather thought you'd give Heero white armor seeing as how I got black. It just seems if one of us has black the other should have white"  
Rajura seemed nervous and looked as if he didn't want to talk. "There is already a white yoroi. I don't want Kenbukyou to make any mistakes when he sees us."

"This sounds important." Seiji spoke up. "Should we be worried about this white yoroi? Is it an enemy?"

"No, not exactly an enemy." Rajura said simply, but he quickly changed the subject. "You'll have to look like warriors before Kenbukyou will give you any respect. He won't deal with anyone if he doesn't respect them and he doesn't respect anyone who doesn't fight."

It was at exactly that moment when Anubisu's head snapped to the side and he said, "We've got company."

The warriors came up from the grass, appearing as if from nowhere, and had them surrounded. Kenbukyou's people rose out of the grasses like tall trees suddenly sprouting from the earth.  
Everyone kept their eyes on the inhuman warriors and slowly looked around. These people were tall, though not so heavily muscled as the Ma-Sho. Kenbukyou's people were intimidating. They were dressed in dusty, earthy colors and held long spears for the most part, though some of them also had swords belted to their waists.

"We come to parley with your lord." Rajura said haughtily to one of the gray skinned soldiers. "Inform Kenbukyou that the Gen Ma-Sho (illusion warlord) has come to speak with him on a matter of mutual interest and benefit."

"You may tell him yourself, Gen Ma-Sho. Kenbukyou-sama has been informed of your trespass onto his land and wishes to see those who would dare invade." The warrior's voice was soft and reedy, and Duo decided that he didn't like the voice.

Duo felt one of the spear-armed soldiers prod him in the back and so they were led, under guard, to the grand palace. He had a distinctly sinking feeling about the whole situation.

Kenbukyou was a most impressive looking...person. Duo couldn't exactly call this person a man as he wasn't human, really. Kenbukyou was covered head-to-toe in armor, so not a single part of him was visible. Duo didn't know exactly what Kenbukyou was, but he wasn't tall enough to be one of the gray skinned warriors he ruled.

The people who stood at Kenbukyou's sides were definitely not human, though they all bore strong resemblance to humans. Two arm and two legs, two eyes, a mouth, and a nose. The similarities pretty much stopped there. Duo couldn't even tell if these people were male or female, they all looked alike to him. Every one of them was tall, with faintly gray skin, and they were completely hairless. They all seemed to be sex-less, androgynous people.

Duo couldn't remember ever seeing anyone like them before in his travels around the Youja-Kai. In fact, he'd never seen anyone other than his brothers and the foot soldiers of Arago. He'd heard of Kenbukyou, naturally. His brothers had told him and Ryou all about the two other great lords of the Youja-Kai.

Kenbukyou, with his empire of the plains, was a powerful and noble lord.

Not a good person, of course, but honorable. Kenbukyou was from the Youja-Kai and very few good things ever came from the Youja-Kai. Kenbukyou, from what Duo remembered, ruled a warrior people known as Hwhils. They were a savage and fiercely independent people. Independent to such an extent that they had nearly committed mass suicide when Arago came close to conquering them. It was Kenbukyou who saved them from themselves and now controlled one of the greatest fighting forces that has ever existed.

Saranbo, living in his mountain kingdom, was another, less admirable lord. He was without honor and lived only for power. He vied with Kenbukyou for power. Both lords were planning to revolt and attempt to overthrow Arago.

Kenbukyou sat, not on a throne, but on a stool covered in some kind of animal hide. It didn't seem to be a throne room, either, but a dining hall where many warriors were hungrily eating something Duo would prefer not to even think about. His swords were on his back, in easy reach, and all of his soldiers were armed to the teeth, as if they were expecting to go into battle at any moment.

Kenbukyou spoke, breaking an awkward silence as they were presented before him. "Why have Arago's lap dogs come to my castle?" His voice was low and almost mocking, a tone Duo didn't expect to hear. "Has your master grown so foolish that he sends his minions into my lands with nothing but children to guard them?"

_Lap dogs!_ Duo opened his mouth to say something rather impolite, but Heero stopped him with a slight touch to his elbow.

Kenbukyou's gaze shifted to Heero and Duo. "I see you've brought Ningen pets to my table." Then he looked at Seiji, Xiu, and Ryou. "Along with more Yoroi bearers. I am truly honored by this show of strength."

Rajura stepped forward, taking the lead, as was his place as eldest. He didn't bow or do anything to show subservience to Kenbukyou. "Greetings, Kenbukyou. We come offering alliance." Rajura said simply, coming straight to the point, which was unusual for him.

Kenbukyou chuckled behind his mask. "Alliance? Why should I ally myself with Arago? I have no reason to and I have the power to ignore him if I wish."

That was true, Duo thought. Kenbukyou was one of the very few creatures with the power that he didn't have to do what Arago told him to do.

"I said WE offer an alliance." Rajura clarified significantly. "I said nothing about Arago."

There was a very quite, very tense moment. "A coup, Rajura?"

"One we have been planning it for quite a while, but only recently do we have the power." Rajura cast a look over his shoulder at Ryou, Seiji, and Xiu.

Kenbukyou leaned forward eagerly, suddenly very interested. "You have the other two bearers, as well."

Rajura nodded slowly. "The bearers have, at last, all been discovered."

Duo would have almost sworn that Kenbukyou was smiling behind his mask. "Then you have..."

"No." Rajura interrupted quickly. "We are lessened in number. Sh'ten has been taken from us and we are weakened by our loss." Rajura couldn't help the slight cracking of his voice as he said this.

"I was wondering where your general was and if he'd perhaps decided to side with Arago against you."

Anubisu stepped forward and spoke coldly. "Arago killed him. Sh'ten would never have sided against us, not for anything!"

Kenbukyou barely acknowledged Anubisu's anger. "I will never understand you humans or your need to form attachments to one another." The lord remarked. "It is simpler without such hindrances." He shook his head. "You truly do not belong in this world, Ma-Sho. So, will you hide and wait for the next yoroi bearer to be chosen by the Cruelty yoroi?"

Duo wanted to smack Kenbukyou for being so callous about Sh'ten, but, again, Heero gave the merest touch to Duo's arm and Duo held his temper. He glanced at Heero's perfectly calm face and wondered how Heero stayed so calm. Still, Heero seemed to know what he was doing and his face was an expressionless mask.

"There is no time. Arago is aware of our plans and will kill us if we do not attack first. We will fight without Sh'ten." Rajura spoke calmly, as if he didn't notice how angry everyone was getting at Kenbukyou's attitude. "Arago has taken another of our family, a young girl, Kayura, though she will be calling herself Kay. Has she been seen in your land?"

Kenbukyou didn't stir. "I have seen no Ningen children other than those who stand before me. It is likely that your missing child is to be found with Saranbo."

Duo wanted to swear, but he knew it would be better to keep silent. He heard Xiu snort and mutter darkly under his breath and realized that this was what Xiu had predicted.

Kenbukyou continued, either not hearing Xiu or not caring. "My warriors have reported a new fighter in Saranbo's army. A girl, with long dark hair and her face painted with red. She fights with two slimjitte and is a devastating force. Many of my people have been destroyed by her. My people have thought that she was just a small person, but she could be a child."

Anubisu swore softly under his breath. "Damn! Should have known Arago wouldn't make it easy on us."

"I do not know Arago other than from Ryou's memory, but I have a question." Seiji asked loud enough for everyone to hear. His eye traveled around the room from Rajura to Anubisu and even to Kenbukyou. "Why would Arago give Kay to one of his enemies?"

"What do you mean?" Anubisu asked.

"He means," Heero answered for Seiji. "That there is no tactical reason for one to give an enemy an advantage. Why would Arago give Saranbo anything let alone one of his people who could fight so well? It would have been easier to just kill her, wouldn't it?"

"He's got a point." Duo said. "It doesn't make any sense to send Kay away when he could have saved himself trouble and just kill her." Duo tried not to cringe at the thought of Kay dying.

Rajura answered, "Arago's not quite what you'd call a great tactician. He's sometimes a little vague about why he does things."

"Don't be polite about him." Anubisu grumbled, running a hand through his now shoulder length blue hair. Anubisu's hair had grown nearly five inches in the last couple of hours. "Arago's about as bright as a snail that's had a lobotomy. He probably didn't think to have her killed and didn't know what else to do with her."

The curtain behind Kenbukyou moved slightly and all eyes went there. A large form was moving behind the curtain. Anubisu sniffed at the air and smiled slightly at whatever it was that he smelled. "So," Anubisu said out loud as he watched the curtain rustle around. "This is where you've been all this time. You missed all the excitement."

"Huh?" Duo frowned at Anubisu. "What are you talking about?"

At the sound of Duo's voice a great roar came from the curtain. Duo stared at the curtain with his mouth wide open. "It can't be."

A giant black tiger leapt through the curtain at Kenbukyou's side and charged Duo. Duo smiled widely. "Ko-chan!" The tiger tackled Duo, bringing Duo to the ground, as he purred loudly. Duo ran his fingers through the soft fur of Kokuen-Oh. "Oh, I thought I'd never see you again! Byakuen is back on Earth with Seiji's sister, you know. Everyone's safe, we think, but we still have to find Kay." Duo chattered happily.

Kokuen-Oh licked Duo's face lovingly and seemed to find something there. He suddenly stopped purring and turned his great head on Heero, obviously catching Heero's scent on Duo.

Duo reassured the big cat. "That's my Heero. I'm sure you'll like him." Despite what Duo said, Kokuen-Oh stepped closer to Heero and examined him. Then he sniffed disdainfully and gave his attention back to Duo.

Kenbukyou was, if anything, impatient with the greetings. "I'm pleased you're happy, Kokuen-Oh, but we're having a discussion here. If Arago has formed an alliance with Saranbo, and the child was a sort of good will token, we may all be in danger. I am at a stalemate with Saranbo, but if Arago sends his foot soldiers against me, also, I do not know if my people will be able to defend themselves."

"And Saranbo's army would add greatly to Arago's force, when he comes after us." Anubisu added. "You're right. We are in trouble."

"But that only makes an alliance with us more valuable." Rajura continued to Kenbukyou. "We, alone, can't defeat our mutual enemies, but together I'm certain that not only can we survive, but we will triumph." Rajura had always been a very convincing speaker.

Kenbukyou seemed to scan the room, moving his helmeted head only slightly. "You have three other warriors who are not here."

"Yes, eight all together. The others are in the Ningen-Sekai, but we don't have a way to get to them right now. Arago gave us the power to open the gateways, but he's not likely to give us anything at the moment."

Kenbukyou waved away the thought. "I am able to open the gateways. Tell your other warriors to be ready and I will bring them here. My people will show you to a chamber where you may rest while you wait for them. I would speak to you further on this matter, Rajura."

**Rajura-**

Kenbukyou was a gracious host, giving them all a room to rest in and food that was, if not recognizable to Seiji, Heero, and Xiu, edible. Duo and Ryou, along with the Ma-Sho, dove into the feast of odd looking food. As they didn't seem to find anything wrong with it, the others soon started eating, too.

While the boys rested on thin mats that had been provided for them Anubisu brought up an issue he'd been thinking about for quite a while. "I don't think we should bring them into battle." Anubisu whispered, glancing over his shoulder at the younger boys. "They have no experience and they'll only hinder us."

Rajura followed Anubisu's gaze and had to admit Anubisu did have a point. In the one room they'd been granted by Kenbukyou, Duo and Ryou were already asleep, looking as innocent as they had when they were far younger. Seiji and Heero were in a corner of the room talking in whispers and occasionally looking out the window at the endless twilight of the Youja-Kai. Ko-chan was between Ryou and Duo, with one large paw on Duo's chest. Ko-chan wasn't asleep, but he kept glaring at Anubisu.

"Is he angry about something?" Rajura asked.

Anubisu blushed slightly. "He can smell Yaku-chan's blood on me. I tried to explain, but he doesn't quite believe me. I'll have Yaku-chan explain everything when they meet up again. Don't try to change the subject. What about the kids?"

"We'll keep them safe in the battle, but we have to let them fight if they want to. You know Ryou and Duo will want to fight, Kay is their sister too. From what I've seen of Seiji and Heero, they will follow their loves into battle. We'll just form up around them and keep the heavy stuff away from them."

Anubisu shook his head. "That might be good enough for the other yoroi bearers, but Duo and Heero? They're only ningen. They will be killed the moment they walk onto the battle field."

Rajura turned away slightly, but Anubisu took his arm, stopping him. "You know I'm right. Kenbukyou has already said he will open the gateway to get Naaza and the other children here, just send Duo and Heero back when the gate is open."

"We raised Duo as a warrior so he could fight beside us with pride, not be send away like an infant. It would kill him to have us deliberately send him away. He would feel like a fool and that we didn't trust him."

Anubisu growled, something he seemed to be doing more of lately. "So, for the sake of his pride, you will let Duo be killed? Our brother? Our son?"

"Since when have we ever lived for anything other than pride?" Rajura countered. "Pride and honor are all we have and it's all we have to offer our children. When we brought them here, we knew it would be hard for them, especially for Duo. We've taught them both to value their honor, that it is their most valuable treasure."

Anubisu's grip on Rajura's arm tightened until Rajura winced in pain and Anubisu grumbled angrily. "Family is more important than honor! You will kill Duo!"

Rajura gave him a calm look and jerked his arm away from Anubisu. "Will you be the one to tell Duo he is too weak to fight for his sister?"

Anubisu glared at him for a moment and then turned away.

WHAT ARE YOU TWO FIGHTING ABOUT THIS TIME? Naaza asked through their link.

WE'RE NOT FIGHTING, WE'RE DISCUSSING. Rajura answered. I WANT TO GIVE THE CHILDREN A LITTLE WHILE TO REST BEFORE WE START OUT. WE HAD A LONG TREK TO GET HERE. KENBUKYOU IS READYING HIS ARMY AND HAS TOLD US TO LET HIM KNOW WHEN YOU'RE READY TO COME OVER HERE.

THEN GO GET HIM. Naaza replied. OUR LITTLE ERRAND HAS BEEN COMPLETED AND I'M ITCHING FOR A WAY TO RELIEVE STRESS. Naaza clearly projected a sense of wanting to fight. Just to fight anyone for any reason. Anything to get his mind away from Sh'ten.

I'LL GO TELL KENBUKYOU TO OPEN THE GATEWAY. Anubisu said, but he looked at Rajura hard. SH'TEN LEFT YOU AS OUR LEADER, SO I WILL FOLLOW ORDERS, BUT BE SURE THIS IS WHAT YOU REALLY WANT TO DO. Anubisu looked sharply to where Ryou and Duo were sleeping. BE VERY, VERY SURE.

With that, Anubisu turned abruptly and left the room.

Rajura leaned against one of the stone walls and suddenly felt very old and very tired. _I'm no leader._ Rajura thought. _I can't do this. What if they die? I don't think any of us can handle another death so soon after Sh'ten. I'm not supposed to be the leader._

"Hey." Rajura looked up to find Xiu staring at him. Strange. For a boy who was so large and normally so loud, Xiu had been quiet for quite a while. So quiet Rajura had almost forgotten he was here.

"Yes?"

Xiu stood next to Rajura, where Anubisu had been. "Anubisu is wrong."

"What?" Rajura hadn't even realized Xiu was listening. Maybe there was more to Xiu than met the eye.

"He's wrong about not wanting Heero and Duo to fight. Seiji, Ryou, and I will protect them in the battle, so you won't have to worry about them. We already know you're planning to take the lead in the fight and not let us do any real fighting." This was said with a hint of bitterness, but before Rajura could say anything Xiu said, "I know, I know, it's for our own good. You're right about us having no experience. The only fights I've ever been in were with school bullies, and they weren't exactly life or death experiences. But how are we going to get any experience if you don't let us get any"

Rajura had to admit the boy had a good point.

"And," Xiu continued. "If I heard what Kenbukyou and you were talking about properly, he's expecting all of us to fight, not just you guys. Right? He might not appreciate you changing the deal at the last minute. You DID say we needed his help, so we have to make sure we keep our end of the bargain."

Rajura allowed himself a slight smile. "You're smarter than you look, boy."

"I'm not an idiot!"Xiu frowned. "Don't call me boy. It makes me sound like a little kid or something."

"Compared to me, you are a little kid."

At that moment, Rajura could feel the gateway open, and from Xiu's tense reaction, so could he. A quick glance to Seiji told Rajura that the young blonde also felt something different.

The door of the room suddenly burst open and Xiu broke out into a smile. "Shin! Touma!" Xiu cried, running away from Rajura and to his friends. The three hugged, happy to be together, and Ryou instantly woke. Ryou smiled to see that they were all together again. Seiji stepped away from Heero and looked like he almost smiled.

Behind the enthusiastic boys walked Naaza next to Anubisu. Naaza had the dark look Rajura had expected and just looked at the floor, letting his long hair hide his face. Anubisu put his arms around Naaza's shoulders, but Naaza remained as still as stone.

NAAZA.

LEAVE ME ALONE.

PLEASE...

GO AWAY. With that, Naaza pulled away from Anubisu and separated his mind from their collective mind. Anubisu let Naaza go, they both watched him go lay down on an empty mat Naaza rolled onto his side, facing the wall.

Anubisu looked at Rajura, worried, but Rajura shook his head. HE'LL TALK WHEN HE'S READY.

Xiu suddenly headed for the door and Rajura called out, "Where are you going?"

"I gotta take a leak." Xiu replied with a sheepish grin. "I'll be right back."

"Come straight back." Rajura insisted. "It's not safe to wander these halls alone."

Xiu rolled his eyes. "Yes, mother. Geeze, even when I'm in another dimension I get babied." Xiu let the door swing closed behind him.

**Xiu-**

Xiu had finished up his business, after a long search to find a private place, and was going back to the room they'd been given when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. A swirl of red and Xiu turned his head just in time to see Kenbukyou turn a corner, his long red cloak billowing behind him like it was caught in a breeze.

_I really shouldn't._ Xiu thought to himself. He considered, for a moment contacting the others, but figured there was little or no point. Kenbukyou hadn't threatened them in anyway. In fact, he'd been very hospitable. _Rajura's gonna be pissed._ Xiu thought as he started to follow the demon lord. _Well, he'll get over it._

Xiu followed Kenbukyou through the winding passages of the castle, lit with candlelight and tried to keep as quiet as he possibly could. Finally, Kenbukyou stopped in a small room and Xiu hid just outside the room and peered around the corner.

The room was sparsely furnished, with nothing but a chair, a mirror, and a window. The chair was at the window, set so whoever sat there could see out onto the landscape of the Youja-Kai. The mirror was large enough it showed Kenbukyou's head and down to his waist.

For a moment, the demon stood in front of the mirror, contemplating himself. Then, slowly, he reached up and pulled off the sleek helmet. Xiu couldn't help the gasp when he saw Kenbukyou's face reflected in the mirror.

Kenbukyou was a man.

A man who was indescribably beautiful with a stern, hard face. His hair, although short, was a shade of blonde so pale it was almost white. One lock of the white gold hair just barely fell over his left eye, much like Seiji's hair or Trowa's. The demon's skin was pale, as if he never saw the light of day.

"Come out." Kenbukyou ordered in his deep, regal voice. "I can hear you."

Xiu guiltily showed himself, figuring it was best not to risk getting himself in any further trouble with their host.

Kenbukyou turned and raised an eyebrow when he saw Xiu. "I am surprised. I hadn't thought that the Gen Ma-Sho would allow you to wander about unsupervised. Surely, he hasn't sent you to spy on me. For that, he'd have sent the Yami Ma-Sho. Why are you here, boy?"

At first, Xiu was going to play stupid and say that he'd gotten lost, but somehow, looking at Kenbukyou's gem hard eyes, Xiu knew it wouldn't work. "I saw you and I followed."

"Why?" Kenbukyou went to the solid wooden chair and sat heavily, not bothering to remove his armor. His gaze went to the scenery surrounding his castle. "Are you so eager for death that you would pester a demon?"

"No. I..." Xiu wanted to say this without offending the demon lord, but he couldn't think of a way so he just asked bluntly, "Are you telling the truth? About not knowing where Kay is, I mean."

Kenbukyou's eyes turned slightly back to Xiu and narrowed his ice eyes. "Are you questioning my honor?"

Xiu wanted to run from that voice and he prayed he'd never have to fight Kenbukyou, but he couldn't back down. There was too much at stake. "Yes, I am. Rajura said you're trustworthy, but you ARE a demon. Demons lie all the time and I don't want that little girl to get hurt. I need to know if you're telling the truth."

Kenbukyou looked again out the window. "If I tell you that I am telling the truth, what good would it do? I could be lying still."

Xiu shrugged, still awkwardly standing. "I don't know. I just have to hear it again. I have to know if you're telling the truth."

"I have never lied." Kenbukyou's voice was quieter this time, almost soft. "In my great, long life I have done things so monstrous you would not believe me if I told you. I have killed. I have brought proud warriors to their knees. I have ruined civilizations. But not once have I ever lied." He turned, just then, and looked Xiu straight in the eye.

Xiu nodded, showing he understood. Kenbukyou turned back to the window, once again, and Xiu started to leave the room. Still, there was one last question. "Just one more thing," Xiu said. "Are you really a demon?"

Kenbukyou chuckled. "You amuse me, boy. You have just said that I was a demon, a few moments ago."

"Only because Rajura told me you were one. But, well, you don't look like I thought a demon would look like. You look like a human."

Kenbukyou stood and took a few steps toward Xiu. Then, like magic, Kenbukyou smiled. Not a big smile, but it was enough to curve his lips upward. It was not exactly a nice smile, but it didn't make Xiu afraid, either. He came closer and closer to Xiu, gliding easily across the hard stone floor, until they were inches apart. "Do I truly look human?"

Xiu took in the full beauty of Kenbukyou and his breath caught. So beautiful, but...there was power behind his eyes. A terrible, dark power that wanted to reach out of Kenbukyou and seize whatever it could. "No." Xiu shook his head, unable to tear his eyes away from Kenbukyou.

Kenbukyou turned quickly when Xiu answered and went back to his chair and sat, turning his face fully away from Xiu. "You had best go back to your companions. They will become worried about you."

Xiu did as Kenbukyou said, but not without one last look at the back of Kenbukyou's head. There was such deep sadness in Kenbukyou's voice. Xiu wondered if he should do anything. In the end there was nothing he could do.

Xiu quietly left the room and went back to where the others were waiting. It wasn't until he was nearly asleep in Touma and Shin's arms that Xiu realized Kenbukyou never answered his question.  
Was Kenbukyou really a demon?

**Sh'ten-**

_So, this is what it's like to be dead. Weird._

Sh'ten watched his brothers and the younger boys as they all settled in for some sleep before the coming battle. He watched as Duo snuggled into Heero's side (With Ko-chan on Duo's other side) and Ryou curled around Seiji. Anubisu and Rajura spoke for a while about battle plans, but soon let themselves drift off. Only Naaza was left awake, still laying on the floor and at the wall in front of his face.

Sh'ten walked to Naaza and crouched down next to him. Sh'ten tried to put his hand on Naaza's beautiful green hair, but his hand passed through Naaza's hair as if it wasn't there.

_No,_ Sh'ten told himself. _As if I'm not here._ Sh'ten looked down at his hand and noticed that he could see right though it. All day, Sh'ten had been trying to communicate with someone, anyone, but it wasn't working. No one could hear him, except the tigers. Yaku-chan had heard him and, earlier, Ko-chan had watched him without any surprise or comment.

Naaza let out a choked sob and Sh'ten felt his heart break with the sound.

_Damn. Damn. Damn. DAMN! If only I could talk to him. Just once more._ But he couldn't. The link he shared with his brothers was severed and Sh'ten felt terribly alone in his mind without anyone else there. At least Sh'ten had the comfort of knowing that Naaza wasn't alone in his pain, he would have Rajura and Anubisu to take care of him.

Sh'ten leaned over Naaza just as Naaza started to cry and then stopped himself again. His eyes were tightly closed and he held his fists under his chin, shaking slightly, like a child in the midst of a nightmare.

_Oh, my 'Za-chan. My dearest Naotoki._ Sh'ten said, using Naaza's original, human name. _I'm so sorry. I wish I didn't have to cause you pain._

Another hand reached out a touched Naaza's head. A hand that Naaza could actually feel.

"Leave me alone." Naaza whimpered.

Rajura didn't pay any attention and kissed Naaza's cheek. "It's alright. You can cry. The children are all asleep and they won't hear you."

"I am NOT crying. Go away." Naaza turned his face away more, so he was almost looking at the floor, but Rajura lay down beside Naaza, cuddling close.

"No, I don't think I will."

Anubisu now sat with his back to the wall next to Naaza's head. "We all miss him, 'Za, but we won't let you be alone." He ran his hand through Naaza's hair gently. "Not now, not ever"  
Naaza broke down into heart wrenching sobs.

Sh'ten stood and started to walk away. Now that he knew they would be alright with out him, Sh'ten didn't know what to do with himself.

Was this all there was to being dead? Maybe this limbo was punishment from his life of evil. To forever watch your loved ones but not be able to do anything, that was certainly a hell.

**Xiu-**

They'd all woken up some time ago, to find Kenbukyou waiting for them with his army poised for battle. Kenbukyou, on a magnificent black war-horse, waited at the head of his army while Rajura took command of his people. They were at the head of the army, also, but it was understood that they were working with Kenbukyou, not taking orders from him.

With all of them in their yoroi or illusion armor, they stood in front of Kenbukyou's army. Dust rising in the distance showed Saranbo's army was on the move, supposedly marching straight for them.

The Ma-Sho took up positions in front of the boys, set to guard them from any real danger.

"The girl is supposed to be in Saranbo's army, right?" Naaza asked, all hint of his breakdown gone with war looming so close. "We should attempt to capture her. If she's not Kay, we can keep her as a hostage. If she is Kay...we'll figure that out later."

"What would she be doing fighting for our enemy if she's Kay?" Ryou asked from behind them. He had his two swords drawn and was impatiently pacing, as if he couldn't wait for this whole thing to start.

CALM DOWN. Seiji told Ryou and Ryou stopped pacing.

"Arago wiped our memories of you, remember?" Naaza pointed out. "It's possible that he did something similar to Kay. We'll figure out some way to get her memory back if she is Kay."

Duo licked his lips nervously and kept looking at Heero who stood very calm with his sword still belted at his waist. Heero just watched the upcoming army like any seasoned soldier. "How can you be so calm?" Duo asked, running one hand up and down the handle of his scythe.

"The mission has been accepted, there are only two possible outcomes. Why get upset?"

Duo gave him a strange look. "Mission? What are you talking about? What outcomes?"

Heero didn't answer him, but Xiu looked at Seiji. Seiji seemed to have an understanding with Heero, though Seiji wouldn't tell Xiu everything. WHAT'S HEERO TALKING ABOUT? Xiu asked Seiji.

Seiji, still at Ryou's side, answered as he looked at Xiu with his one uncovered eye. IF WE WIN, WE WIN. IF WE FAIL, WE MUST KILL OURSELVES. He said this in a perfectly calm tone, as if it didn't bother him at all.

Xiu spluttered at Seiji. WHAT?

Shin and Touma, alerted by their Xiu's horror, added into the conversation. WHAT'S GOING ON? Touma asked.

Xiu pointed at Seiji with disbelief. HE SAYS WE HAVE TO KILL OURSELVES IF WE LOSE!  
Touma scowled at Seiji. NOT BLOODY LIKELY!

Shin send worried thoughts at Seiji. WHATEVER GAVE YOU THAT IDEA? SEIJI, IF WE DIE HERE, THAT'S ONE THING, BUT WE CAN'T KILL OURSELVES!

Seiji frowned. WHY NOT? THIS IS A MISSION. WE HAVE TO DEFEAT THE ENEMY AND CAPTURE THE GIRL. IF WE FAIL, WE CAN NOT ALLOW OURSELVES TO BE CAPTURE AND POSSIBLY INTERROGATED. WE MUST DESTROY OURSELVES. ISN'T THAT HOW ALL BATTLES ARE FOUGHT?

Ryou held up his swords, inches from Seiji's face. NOW LOOK, YOU! MY LITTLE SISTER'S BEEN KIDNAPPED AND BRAINWASHED INTO TRYING TO KILL US. MY MAMA WAS JUST MURDERED. WE'RE GOING TO FIGHT A HORDE OF INHUMAN CREATURE AND WE'RE GOING TO TRY AND KILL AND UN-KILLABLE DEMON. I HAVE ENOUGH STRESS RIGHT NOW WITHOUT WORRYING ABOUT YOU KILLING YOURSELF IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BATTLE! GOT IT?

Seiji blinked at the unexpected display of temper. GOT IT. He answered. I WILL NOT KILL MYSELF DURING THE BATTLE. I WILL KILL MYSELF ONLY IF WE ARE DEFEATED.

Xiu wanted to slap himself on the forehead. He couldn't believe that Seiji was being so casual about killing himself.

In the background, they all heard Duo exclaim, "What do you mean, you're going to self-destruct if we fail! Don't you fuckin' dare!"

Seiji and Heero exchanged a look that clearly said, _Civilians. What do they know?_

**Heero-**

"Heero?"

"Yes?" Heero turned to look at Duo and found Duo holding a necklace of some kind. It was a necklace Heero recognized, as the one Duo always seemed to have hanging off his neck. It was made of string with a shining "T" shaped object hanging off it. Duo held out the necklace out to Heero.

"I want you to wear this in the battle." Duo held it out with a warm smile.

Heero took the necklace and examined it, judging it to be steel and plated in gold. "Why?" Heero asked, puzzled.

Duo's smile grew sad. "Sister Helen gave it to me when I first came to the orphanage. She told me that if I wore it I would always be safe. I want you to be safe, so you wear it now."

'How can this thing keep me safe?' Heero wondered. "What is it?"

"It's called a crucifix." Duo told him. "It's powerful magic."

Heero scowled at the crucifix, dangling in front of his eyes. "There is no such thing as magic."

Duo laughed then and gestured around him. "What do you call all this? Now, you take care of it." Duo instructed Heero. "That's my favorite thing in the whole world and if it gets lost on the battle field...what are you doing?"

Heero put the necklace back over Duo's head. "I don't need it."

Duo said, slightly hurt, "But I want you to be safe."

"I don't care if I die." Heero responded with a shrug. "I will fight with my own hands and I will live or die by my own skill. I don't want your magic."

"But..."

"But," Heero continued, not looking at Duo. "I DO care if you die."

Duo was left speechless by Heero's rare show of emotion.

**Xiu-**

The enemy army came closer and closer until Xiu could hear the beating of their feet on the ground and the clanging of their armor as they marched. Xiu readied his naginata and braced himself to fight. Xiu knew he could do this because there was a little girl on the other side of that army who needed to be rescued. He could sense the determination in the others, especially in Ryou, who was enraged and ready to attack the first thing that came in sight.

"No one use your sure kill's until we've found Kay." Rajura ordered. "We have to get her off the battle field or she'll be killed."

It was Shin who worried Xiu the most. He'd felt it the other day when Shin had killed for the first time and nearly had a nervous breakdown. Shin held his yari with an expressionless face, but it was easy to feel his churning emotions. Luckily, Shin understood how important the battle was and he wasn't about to let any poor little girl get hurt when he could help save her.

WE'LL WORRY ABOUT HIS STATE OF MIND AS SOON AS WE GET OUT OF HERE. Touma said as he and Xiu shared a worried look. LET'S JUST SAVE THE KID AND GET OURSELVES HOME.

GOOD IDEA.

Suddenly, the enemy was upon them!

The Ma-Sho all moved to attack, but something unexpected happened. Before anyone else could even raise a weapon, Duo dashed between them and raced into the middle of the enemy horde.

"Duo! Stop!" Rajura called, but Duo didn't hear.

Duo laughed as the enemy swarmed around him. He swung his heavy scythe and, with a maniacal glee in his eyes and his crucifix shining at his throat, Duo laughed as the enemy fell around him. Xiu had only a moment to stare before he, and the rest of them, were surrounded and fighting for their lives.

Even through the clashing of swords and screams of the wounded, Xiu could hear Duo laughing happily. Duo literally mowed down the enemy and, when Xiu risked a glance at the braided boy, he saw that Duo was actually foaming at the mouth. Thick, white foam dripped from Duo's mouth while he laughed and brought all around him to their deaths. The battle was terrible. Even with Kenbukyou's army fighting with them, it was hard to even make a dent in Saranbo's army. It seemed to take hours to find the warrior they were looking for. Then, there she was.

With twin jitte she fought. Killing with such ease, the girl looked barely older than Kwan had, before she'd died. She had very long black hair and, as Kenbukyou had told them, her face was painted with red markings.

Once Rajura saw her, he raced toward her. Right after him were Naaza and Anubisu, followed closely by Ryou. Duo was still in berserk mode. Through Ryou's mind, Xiu warrior as a sweet child playing with dolls and playing practical jokes on her brothers.

Although the girl fought well against Kenbukyou's people, easily killing all those who faced her, she was no match for the experienced Ma-Sho. Naaza confronted Kay, using only two of his swords to block her, while Anubisu was a distraction. He kept her just off balance enough that she couldn't see Rajura coming at her from behind.

"Kay!" Anubisu shouted over the din of the battle raging around them. "Kay, don't you remember us?"

"I am Lady Kayura! Don't try to trick me!" The girl yelled back. The look in her eyes clearly said that she really didn't remember them at all. "Saranbo-sama has told me of your lies and tricks. I will kill you all in his name!" Coming from a twelve-year-old, this should have sounded absurd, but the way she was holding her own against Naaza and Anubisu made her skill and power all to clear.

Rajura, using not his scythes, but the nun chucks to slam into her back, was Kay's undoing. When the nun-chucks struck the middle of her back, she cried out in pain and stumbled. Naaza, with his incredible reflexes, managed to catch her before she fell to the ground. Kay recovered quickly and started to struggle, but Anubisu came over quickly and disarmed her.

Kay spit at Anubisu. "Let me go! Saranbo-sama will rip out your hearts for this insult!" She continued to kick and swear at them, her face contorted in a mask of hate.

Anubisu tried to calm her, but she would have none of it. Finally, when it became obvious that they couldn't contain her and fight the battle around them, Naaza bit Kay on one of her wrists. Whatever he put into her worked because she slumped into his arms, fast asleep.

Rajura went to where Shin was fighting beside Xiu and killed Shin's opponent for him. "Go find Naaza. He's got the girl we were looking for. Get her off the battle field if you can"  
Shin nodded and ran off.

"Well?" Xiu asked, turning back to the battle. "What are we going to do now?"

Rajura watched until Shin had taken Kay to safety and then smiled at Xiu. "We're going to decimate the enemy." All at once, at some prearranged signal that Rajura must have arranged, Kenbukyou's forces fled the battle field. This left Saranbo's people confused, but still on the field where they'd been fighting. Everyone knew Kenbukyou's people didn't run away, after all. "Use your sure kill's!" Rajura bellowed to those who remained on the battle field. "Destroy the enemy!"

Xiu turned and saw Ryou's face light up like a bonfire. With an easy spin, Ryou twirled his katanas around and hit them together at the hilt. The two swords suddenly became one and Ryou cried out, "So En Zan!" A fierce fire erupted from his swords and engulfed the battle field.

It wasn't long before Touma pulled back on his bow and let an arrow fly, carving a wide canyon out of the field with the comet that his arrow had become.

Seiji and Anubisu, at the same time, pointed their long no-datchi's up to the sky and released terrible lightening targeting the enemy.

Xiu grinned and whirled his naginata over his head before slamming it to the ground. The world shook like the greatest earthquake ever felt.

Even Shin with his hatred of battle, shouted out his own attack phrase and the magical words opened up the power of Suiko. Though there seemed to be no water to use, from the yari itself poured forth a great and terrible wave that swept across the battlefield.

After such a devastating onslaught, the few remaining enemy ran from the battle field.  
Rajura surveyed the carnage with a pleased smile. "A good day's work."

A short while after the battle had ended, they found Duo calmed down, but only just. He was limping beside Heero, but assured everyone he was fine. In fact, he didn't even remember the battle.

Anubisu laughed, wiping blood and sweat from his face then leaned forward to do the same to Duo's face. "Who would have guessed that we have a berserk in our family? You took out half Saranbo's people yourself, Duo. We should be calling you the Shi no Kami."

Everyone laughed weakly, grateful for some relief from all the death, except Duo Slowly, Duo smiled as he thought about the name. "I like it."

**Continued...**


	25. Pilot Confrontation

By the way, I thought I should mention, I know my Ma-Sho are out of character. I like them this way.

**Chapter 24 : PILOT CONFRONTATION **

**Quatre-**

Pain.

Quatre slowly opened his eyes and saw only the familiar ceiling of his captivity, though the world around him seemed bleary. His skin was burning - such an awful pain - and hands moved over him. _What's going on?_ Sharp pain woke him more and Quatre looked down to see a cloud of emerald hair.

Aman with emerald green hair slowly looked up and met Quatre's eyes. Quatre saw the cast mark of a Hindu in the middle of the stranger's forehead. The man's mouth was on him, but it took Quatre a moment to realize the pain was because the man was biting him. It wasn't like before, when he'd first been taken captive, the nightmare of torture. This was a different kind of pain. Wherever the man's hands touched, it was like someone were pouring liquid fire over him. It wasn't fire, though, but something sticky that clung to his skin as it burned him. If he'd had the strength to scream, Quatre would have.

The man realized that Quatre was awake and suddenly a feeling of complete calm overtook Quatre. Even the pain was gone and Quatre was fell back into a deep sleep.

**Later-**

Quatre woke again, but slowly, and just stared up at his own bedroom ceiling for a long time just watching the ceiling fan lazily spin. His whole body burned and he could barely move. Even opening his eyes was painful.

_That could NOT have been a dream!_ Quatre thought, remembering everything that had happened. Quatre tried to raise his head to check how badly injured he was, but found that he couldn't move well. His whole body seemed stiff and filled with a kind of deep pain. _Rashid must have saved me._ Rashid was the perfect father, as far as Quatre was concerned. He was literally always there when Quatre needed him.

"Rashid!" Quatre tried to yell, knowing that his guardian would be around somewhere, but his voice came out as nothing more than a dry rasp. There was no way anyone would have heard him. Knowing Rashid, the older man would be up soon to check on him.

"Your friend is busy. He will return shortly."

Quatre turned at the unfamiliar voice and found an emerald haired man standing by the window. _He's the one I saw in the nightmare._ The man had a strange look to him. His skin was a faint hue of green and his eyes seemed too large to be real. The man leaned against the wall with his arms held loosely in front of him and had his head turned slightly so he could see out the window, focusing on the setting sun.

"You injuries were quite fatal." The emerald haired man said in a soft, slow voice, though he still didn't turn to look at Quatre. "You should have died, ningen." When he finally did look at Quatre, Quatre flinched. The stranger's face was filled with nothing but contempt.

"Leave him alone, Naaza." Touma said sternly as he walked into the room. Touma then turned a worried smile to Quatre. "Hey, Kitty. How're you doing?" Touma sat on the side of Quatre's bed and looked him up and down. "You look like Hell."

"Don't swear, it's not nice." Quatre said almost reflexively. He'd been working for many years to get Touma to stop swearing. "I've been better. What's happening?" Allah, even talking was tiring! "I can't seem to remember much."

Touma was silent and shrugged. "Rashid said not to worry you, yet, so I'm not supposed to tell you all the details. You'd better just worry about getting rested. Naaza says it'll take a few days before you're up to speed."

"Naaza?" Quatre looked at the stranger. "I saw you in a dream, I think."

Naaza nodded, keeping his eyes focused on Quatre. "Yes, you woke sooner than I'd expected." Naaza stood and walked toward the door. Before he left, Naaza said, "Say good bye to your friend, Touma. We're leaving in a few minutes."

"Leaving?" Quatre tried to push himself up, but pain shot through him, making him suck in a gasp of air. _I didn't think I was hurt this badly._ He thought trying to think passed the pain.

"Hey," Touma said anxiously, pushing Quatre back down onto his pillow. "Don't hurt yourself. You've been through a lot. Don't worry, though, Rashid and Abdul are just downstairs. Trowa's here, too. He helped to rescue you, so I guess he's a good guy." Touma said as if he didn't entirely like the idea.

"But...but where are you going?" Quatre looked up at Touma, worried. Touma shifted uneasily.

"Um, I've gotta go help some friends. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"But where? What friends?"

"I think I shouldn't tell you. You'll only get upset and it'll take you longer to heal. You can't help anyway. Now, I'm sure Rashid would disapprove of me going, so I'm going to sneak out with Shin and Naaza. Don't try yelling to get Rashid to stop me, you're voice is nothing but a whisper and Rashid will never hear you. I'll be long gone before anyone else comes up to check on you."

"What!" Quatre sat up, again, abruptly, sending shocks of pain all through his body and he groaned with pain. "You can't just run off."

"Damn it, Kitty, don't move!" Touma pushed him back down onto the pillow. "I told you what Naaza said."

"You haven't told me who Naaza is, though." Quatre reminded him. "I don't want you going off with someone we don't know."

"You can't stop me." Touma stood and put a hand in his pocket, obviously fiddling with something in his pocket, but not bringing it out. "Naaza's not such a bad guy when you get to know him, he's just a bit rough. There's something very bad going on and Naaza's apart of it. Shin and I are going to help him fix things."

"Does this have anything to do with OZ?" Quatre asked. "Is Naaza apart of OZ?"

"OZ?" Touma was surprised at the question and then sort of smiled, as if the very idea of Naaza being with OZ was absurd. "No, I don't think he even knows what OZ is. You don't have to worry about that anymore, anyway." He smoothed back Quatre's hair away from his forehead. "I'm not going to work for OZ anymore. I think they had something to do with your kidnapping."

If Naaza wasn't with OZ, then what was he involved with? Something very bad? Could Touma mean that Naaza was working for the rebellion against the Alliance? _Great, first Touma wants to work for Trieze and now this. At least if he'd run away to join Trieze, I know Trieze would keep him safe._

Before Quatre could open his mouth, Touma said, "I'll be back as soon as I can, Kitty. I'm sorry to leave you like this." And he jumped out of the open window Naaza had been leaning against.

"Touma!" Quatre's voice was still pitifully weak and he could barely struggle to the window. By the time Quatre managed to get to the window, all he saw was Touma, Shin, and that new guy, Naaza, vanishing into the nearby forest. "Damn!" And suddenly Quatre's vision wavered and darkened as pain, once again, hit him full force.

Quatre felt himself fall, and then someone caught him and he was being lifted in strong arms. Opening his eyes, Quatre strained to focus. He expected to see Rashid or Abdul, but it was a long face with sad eyes that looked down at him through a curtain of chestnut hair.

_Such lovely eyes._ Quatre thought, becoming more awake as Trowa lifted Quatre and set him down on the bed.

"Thank you for coming for me." Quatre told him. He remembered Trowa quite well from that one time they'd met at the beach. Trowa was still beautiful. Quatre shook himself and remembered Touma. "My brother..."

"Is going to help his friends."

Quatre frowned. "How do you know? Did he tell you?"

Trowa was staring at him from under the hunk of hair hanging awkwardly over his face. "No. Touma doesn't like me very much. Shin tells me everything, normally. There is something going on, but he won't tell me exactly what. I saw Naaza do...interesting things when we rescued you. Their friends, Xiu, Ryou, and Seiji are in trouble."

"So, Touma's going to rescue them? Why wouldn't he tell me that? He knows Rashid and I would help him."

"It must be important. Shin wouldn't hide things from me for no reason." Trowa sat on the chair by the bed and his one invisible eye closed. "It's my fault you were brought into this in the first place. I shouldn't have made contact with Shin at the circus in the first place. It was because of me that he was shot and now you've been tortured. You both almost died because of me." Trowa crossed his arms and turned to look out one of the windows. "I should have known better."

"What?" Quatre asked. "Trowa, I don't blame you. How could I? You didn't hurt me, they did. I'm sure Shin feels the same way." Quatre had one thought as he looked back at Trowa's thin face and sad, vulnerable eyes. _MINE._

"You're very forgiving." Trowa said, his voice sounded strangely dead. Still, Trowa sat quietly beside the bed, still looking terribly guilty. "The mercenaries came looking for Shin and I. They only caught you because you were giving Shin shelter."

Quatre rolled over onto his side, ignoring the pain as best as he could, and put a hand on Trowa's thigh. "Don't worry about it. I don't blame anyone. Can you tell me what happened to me? Touma wouldn't say a thing." Sadly, touching Trowa's thigh was the most suggestive thing Quatre seemed to be able to manage at the moment. _Well, just wait until I have my full strength back._

Trowa blinked and stiffened under Quatre's hand, surprised. Quatre wanted to laugh at that expression, it was so charming!

"You were tortured and held hostage for me. I was to return to my former associates in exchange for your release. With help from...a friend, I was able to find your location. Touma, Shin, Naaza, and I went to rescue you while Rashid and his associates stayed here as a distraction." Trowa's eyes took on a sudden sharp look. "When we found you, you were nearly dead. Naaza seems to have a rather...unique ability to heal and he saved you. He said you would likely be in a great deal of pain for some time." Trowa leaned down and whispered into Quatre's ear, as if he were afraid that someone would hear. "I am 03."

Quatre's eyes widened at the confession and he looked at Trowa in a new light. Trowa was a Gundam Pilot? Quatre certainly hadn't expected that! "I was told there were others, but I didn't think you'd know who I was. How did you find out?"

"It was a mission." Trowa's voice was even and low, apparently it was customary for him to speak like this. "I and another, 01, were sent to get you out of the hands of possible enemies. It was thought that you might say something under interrogation."

Quatre nodded thoughtfully. Yes, he'd would have been considered a security risk what with the war so close to beginning, the doctor's couldn't take the kind of chance, now could they? "Since I'm still alive, may I presume you weren't sent to eliminate me?"

Trowa didn't look the least bit guilty when he answered, "I was sent to evaluate the situation and do what I deemed necessary. You were being held in an OZ warehouse, so I believe they are behind this somehow. If they have found out you are a Gundam pilot, you are in grave danger."

Quatre shook his head. "I don't think so." He had his own, private, reasons to believe OZ wasn't behind his kidnapping. Reasons he didn't want to discuss with Trowa. "What happened to the ones who kidnapped me? Did you kill them?"

"No. Naaza, Shin, and Touma killed them all. I only got a few of them. Rashid said he and his men were going out tonight to round up anyone else who might have been involved. I believe OZ is behind your kidnapping. Kushranada might have."

"No." Quatre answered sharply. "OZ may have had something to do with it, but Trieze didn't know about it."

"How do you know?" "I just do." He couldn't very well let Trowa know how he knew Trieze. It would make the situation very complicated. "What do you mean my brother helped kill?" Quatre's eyes went wide at the thought of his brother committing mass murder. "Are you sure?"

Quatre didn't want to think about the implications of Touma going along with Trowa on a mission. If Touma or Shin had seen anything or heard anything they shouldn't have, Trowa would have killed them. Worse, still, Quatre might have had to kill Touma himself. He shook away those thoughts. "Where is 01? I think I should meet him and thank him, too. What's his name?"

Trowa did look away at this point. "01 is Heero Yuy. He has gone on another mission."

"Where? Is the war starting so soon that he's started eliminating targets? I'm physically not ready to fight, yet..." As far as Quatre knew, the war hadn't even begun yet. There shouldn't be any missions.

"No." Trowa answered slowly. "It's a very long story."

Quatre leaned back, making himself comfortable. "I have time. Start from the beginning, please"  
So Trowa told him everything. Absolutely everything.

**A short while later-**

"You're telling me that my brother, and his two friends, along with two guys I've never met, and four demon generals have gone to a demon world to save a child and overthrow the demon emperor who wants to take over and or destroy the Earth? Did I leave anything out?"

Trowa thought seriously for a moment and then shook his head. "No. That's about it. It's all I know, anyway."

Quatre closed his eyes and let his head sink back into his pillow. Maybe whatever medicine Naaza had given him was causing strange side effects to make him hallucinate like this. This couldn't be true.

Then again, he had seen the unusual display of power that had nearly destroyed the Trieze's house. He had seen Sh'ten and Anubisu transform from one set of armor to another.

"So, there are three of us pilots." Quatre said without opening his eyes.

"No."

Quatre did open his eyes and looked at Trowa in confusion. "You, myself, and Heero Yuy. Three."

"No."

"Well, who's the fourth?"

"05 didn't respond when Master O commanded him to help search for you. It is believed that he is disobeying orders and has taken off on his own."

Quatre's brow furrowed at that information. If one of them had rebelled, what would it mean for the rest of them? "Okay. Four of us, then. What do we know about Heero and 05?"

A man walked through the wall of Quatre's bedroom.

Quatre blinked but said nothing, just staring at the redheaded man who looked at him, then Trowa, and started looking around the room. Sh'ten, yes, that was the man's name. It was Sh'ten who'd helped to bring Touma home the night of the party at Trieze's home.

"Heero," Trowa answered, not acknowledging that Sh'ten had just walked through a wall, "Seems to be very reliable. He is efficient and intelligent. You already know 05."

Quatre was still staring at Sh'ten when he answered faintly, "I do?"

"05 is Chang Wufei. I believe he was one of your friends when we met for the first time at the beach."

Trowa's soft answer was enough to take Quatre's attention away from Sh'ten. "What! Wufei? Are you sure?" How could he not have guessed that Wufei was a pilot? After all the time they'd known each other, too.

Trowa nodded slowly. "I was given his information just a short while ago, you were still asleep. I am to return Wufei to Master O for reeducation or kill him. If Wufei will not obey orders, he is a liability."

Quatre scowled. "Wufei is my friend. I can't kill him."

"You don't have to." Trowa said, standing up. "This is my mission and I will kill him."

Quatre's attention was brought back to Sh'ten for a moment, to see Sh'ten smiling at them, amused at the conversation. Sh'ten was now wearing an old fashioned kimono instead of the fearsome yoroi Quatre had first seen him in. Quatre wondered if he was hurt more than the others had thought, or if maybe he'd lost his mind. Trowa babbling about demons and now Sh'ten was starting to walk through walls. Trowa might kill one of Quatre's best friends.

Trowa touched Quatre's shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"Um..." It was obvious that Trowa couldn't see Sh'ten, for some reason, and pointing out the man would just make Quatre look more foolish. "Just hungry." Quatre smiled at Trowa sweetly."Would you ask Rashid or Abdul if I can have something to eat."

Trowa nodded and left the room. As soon as the door closed behind Trowa, Quatre sat up as straight as he could and looked at Sh'ten. "What are you smiling about? How did you come though the wall like that?"

Sh'ten blinked at him, his smile slipped. "I'm a bit surprised you can see me at all. I was smiling, because I just adore young love." Sh'ten's smile turned slightly darker. "There is such a potential for pain. I'm sure you'll feel yours in due time."

Quatre tried to ignore that comment. "Of course I can see you, but I'm rather curious about why Trowa can't."

Sh'ten let out a sign. "I suppose it has something to do with the fact that I'm dead."

"You died?" Quatre was at a loss for words for a moment, but said weakly. "I'm so sorry."

Sh'ten shrugged. "Yes, well, it had to happen sometime, I guess."

"You're taking it pretty well."

"Thank you. Being dead gives one a wonderfully clear perspective, you know. That's part of the reason that I believe you can see me. You were, from what I heard, rather close to death yourself, just a short while ago. It makes you more sensitive. I expect it will wear off soon, don't worry about it." He looked closer at Quatre. "Naaza healed you, didn't he?"

"How did you know?"

"I've felt his gentle touch a few times myself. Just a suggestion, but you might want to avoid mirrors for a little while. You may not like what you see. Although, you are rather sweet with the scars Naaza has given you." Sh'ten reached out for just a moment, as if he'd touch Quatre's face, but then pulled back, reluctantly. "You are very appealing with such pain on your face, but it'll go away soon. Naaza's a little too good at healing. In just a few hours, you won't feel a thing and there won't be a mark on your lovely face after a day or so. What a pity."

Sh'ten eyes lost focus for a moment. "Excuse me, but I have to go now. I'm sure we'll meet again." Sh'ten started to walk away, but then paused. "By the way, I heard your conversation with that young man, Trowa. You know Chang Wufei?"

"Yes, he's a friend of mine."

Sh'ten nodded. "Good. Give him a message, will you? Tell him his wife says to stop being such a dick and get his ass in gear." Sh'ten shook his head, tiredly. "That girl has such a foul mouth when she gets angry."

"His wife?" Quatre's eyes widened. "You know Meiran? But she died."

Sh'ten gave Quatre a flat look. "I'm dead, too. I thought you were supposed to be smart. Just tell him Meiran's getting irritated at him. I'm sure he knows what I'm talking about"

"Well, I'll try." Quatre said doubtfully. "But I really don't think Wufei would believe me. He's still very sensitive about her death and he might think it was a very bad joke. Wufei doesn't have a very good sense of humor."

Sh'ten shrugged. "Well, it's not my business. She says if he doesn't get his act together soon she's going to have a word with him. To be honest, the way she said it, it doesn't sound like a nice visit." With that, Sh'ten faded away and Quatre was alone again.

_Huh. That was strange._

At that moment, Trowa came back with a tray of soup and a glass of water. "Rashid wants you to stay in bed for a while and you are to eat all the food."

Quatre obediently started to eat and decided it would be best if he didn't tell anyone about his little meeting with Sh'ten. He wouldn't be believed anyway, so why bother? "I think I should go talk to Wufei before you do anything."

"Why?" Trowa looked at him puzzled as he sat back down. "I have my orders. I will question him."

"I've known Wufei for a long time and just disappearing isn't like him at all. He must have had a reason and, if I know him, it's important. I really think I should go with you to talk to him. He's not very friendly unless he knows you well, so I don't think he'll talk to you."

**Fan Family Restaurant-  
Wufei-**

"I am going to KILL HIM!" Wufei growled as he tied on the apron. He pulled back his hair into a tight ponytail and then took the OPEN flag to hang outside.

Auntie Fan was upstairs with Lai, taking a well-deserved break.

"Are you sure you'll be all right, sweetie?" Auntie had asked him before Wufei sent her upstairs to rest. "You've never worked the restaurant alone. It's harder than it looks."

Wufei gave her a gentle push to encourage her upstairs. "I'll be fine. I know all the recipes for the menu and I'm a decent cook. I'll close the restaurant after the lunch crowd leaves to rest and I'll open again for dinner. I won't overwork myself, I promise." He added, "And after dinner, I'll go hunt around for Xiu. I have a few contacts, so maybe they've heard something."

Of course, now with auntie safely upstairs where she couldn't hear him rant, Wufei was snarling while he went about the daily task of opening the restaurant. It was afternoon all ready, which meant they'd lost money from the morning crowd, but there was no way to help that now. Even as he hung up the flag outside that curtained doorway, Wufei heard a number of excited comments from passersby's. Auntie's restaurant hadn't been open in days so everyone was happy to taste the excellent food again.

"I'll kill him. I'll kill him. I'll kill him." Wufei chanted the mantra out loud, not caring who heard him. He went immediately to the stove and started the rice which he knew there would be plenty of demand for.

How dare Xiu just take off and leave his mama all alone like that! _I told him to stay and take care of the family and he just runs off for God knows what reason! I swear I'll kill him. _Wufei heard people coming into the restaurant and forced on his best smile as he turned and said loudly, "Good afternoon! Welcome to the Fan Family restaurant!" The customers smiled back, but Wufei turned back to the stove where he was working. _I hate people._ Smiling at perfect strangers? What a waste of time.

Still, it was for auntie and she'd done so much for him in his time of need. If for no other reason, he owed her this.

The afternoon went quite well. Wufei only chased three customers out of the restaurant with his foul temper and a large carving knife. _Insult MY cooking, will they!_ Wufei knew he had a foul temper and, as far as he was concerned, he had every right to have whatever temper he damned well wanted.

Wufei's mind went back to the phone conversation he'd had with Master O, just before auntie had called.

**Flashback-**

"05, I've been trying to contact you. Where have you been?"

Wufei was silent, remembering what he'd seen and heard from doctor J on the surveillance tape. They wanted him to change sides. No. It was worse than that. IT wasn't as if he were being given a choice in the matter. They intended to sell him.

"Do you hear me, 05?"

They were going to sell him. "Yes." Wufei could practically feel the woman, Noin, staring at him. Despite how confused he might have been, Wufei wasn't about to give away his secrets to the enemy, even if he wasn't sure who the enemy was, anymore.

"Orders have been changed. Your first priority is to help rescue a missing pilot. Do you understand?"

Wufei felt the anger boiling inside him. "I understand." And he hung up abruptly. _How dare he take me for a fool?_ Wufei thought, glaring at the phone in his hand. _A change of orders?_

**Eight years ago-**

"Wufei, this is Master O. You are to learn from him and obey his instruction."

Little seven-year-old Wufei bowed respectfully to the large bald man his father was introducing him to.

"Master O is going to be your tutor, Wufei. You must learn as much as you can. Master O is a great scientist and we are honored to have him as your tutor." Wufei's father smiled down at him. "Do your best, son, and I'll be proud of you."

Wufei filled with happiness at his father's pride and looked at Master O with a child's natural trust. "I'll learn everything I can from you, sir."

Master O gave Wufei a small smile. "That's what I was hoping you'd say."

Over time, Master O had taught Wufei not to tell anyone what they did in their "lessons". It wasn't just history or literature, but how to assemble a rifle in under thirty seconds, Psychology to better understand one's enemies, war tactics, and the list went on and on. Wufei was thirteen before he fully understood what, exactly, he was being trained for. So many years of his life given over toMaster O with the firm belief and trust that the brilliant man knew what he was talking about.  
It was a conflict when he would get home, however. Wufei's father had always stressed honor and truth. How was Wufei supposed to decide what to do when Master O, the man his father had told him to obey, was telling him the direct opposite?

"You must destroy OZ. You must kill Trieze Kushranada." Those were his orders. That was the sole reason for his life. Or so Master O had made him believe.

**End-**

Wufei clicked the phone off and he was almost positive that the missing Gundam Pilot was just a ruse to get him off his guard and back to where they would retrain him to fight for OZ. _I won't do it! No one sells me like some animal._

The phone rang again.

"Here." This had better not be Master O again.

"Wufei sweetie! Oh, I'm so glad I finally found you! I need some help at the restaurant. Xiu's gone. He ran away the other day. Oh, sweetie!"

"What! What do you mean he's runaway?" Wufei demanded. "Do you know why? Any clues?"

Auntie sobbed on the other end of the line. "No, none at all. I've tried looking for him, but I have to take care of Lai. The police have looked, but there's no sign of him anywhere! I can't run the restaurant by myself and he might be hurt. He was so devastated after the attack, oh, God, what if he's done something foolish?"

Images of Xiu killing himself filled Wufei's mind, but he just couldn't believe it. "I'll be right there. Stay at home, auntie."

The next thing Wufei knew, he was comforting his aunt and promising to run the restaurant until they could find Xiu.

**End flashback-**

"If he's taken the coward's way out, I'll..."

"You'll what?"

Wufei spun around at the familiar voice. There, at the counter sat Nasty with a sweet smile as she watched him cook. "Nasty? What are you doing here?"

**Nasty-**

Nasty answered, "I heard what you said about a family emergency, so I thought I'd come and see if I could help. You saved my family, so maybe I can help yours." While she said this, Nasty thought, _My, but he does look cute in an apron._

**Wufei-**

Wufei blinked, surprised to find Nasty here, but he kept on cooking behind the counter. Nasty couldn't resist getting up and walked around the counter to help him.

"You don't have to." Wufei said, but Nasty pulled a spare apron from under the counter.

"Trust me, I don't do anything I don't want to do, Wufei. But, I enjoy cooking, and I promise I won't make any raspberry tarts." She smiled innocently before she started in on one of the orders that had to be made.

It wasn't long before Wufei heard a man's voice behind them, at the counter. "Hey, baby. Leave the kitchen for while and I'll show you how to really cook."

Wufei growled at the stranger making suggestive comments at Nasty. He turned around, ready to give this guy a lesson in manners when talking to a lady, only to turn around and find a young man leering at him.

_What the...!_ Suddenly out of his element, Wufei froze and had no clue as to what he should do.

The man winked at Wufei and reached out, taking Wufei's hand. "Come on, sexy. You're too hot to slave over a stove. Come with me and I'll show you what a real man cooks." The man stroked Wufei's hand seductively.

Wufei broke out in a cold sweat and felt like fainting as he let out a whimper. His mind completely froze.

A cast iron frying pan slammed down on the man's arm, which had been on the counter while he was holding Wufei's hand. The man screamed in pain and leapt away, clutching his arm.  
"Hands off! Mine!" Nasty snarled, the frying pan still in one hand.

The man staggered out of the restaurant muttering about crazy women and the rest of the customers burst into applauds.

Nasty bowed dramatically before turning back to Wufei with a concerned look. "Are you alright? He didn't traumatize you or anything?"

"Y-Yours?" Wufei asked, not bothering to answer her question. Of course he wasn't traumatized. A guy had just propositioned him, that's all. Nothing to get worked up about. Heck, most of his friends were gay or bi. His cousin was gay. There was no reason this should bother him at all. Right?

Nasty smiled, though not so innocent this time. "Mine."

Wufei swallowed hard at the implications. _What have I gotten myself into?_ They were interrupted by laughter. Both turned and saw a large woman beaming at them while she held a toddler in one arm. Wufei went to the woman. "Auntie, is everything alright? Do you need me to get you anything?"

"No, sweetie." She put an affectionate hand on his cheek. "I just wanted to see that you were alright. I didn't realize you had such efficient help." She smiled at Nasty, who hurried to hide the frying pan.

Auntie just laughed again. "Next time, dear, just ask Wufei to show you where Bad Ass is. You won't have to worry about doing anyone permanent damage, that way"  
Nasty had the grace to blush. "Bad Ass?"

Auntie came further into the kitchen, swinging Lai into her arms so the child wouldn't get into things in the dangerous kitchen. Auntie reached under the counter and pulled out her large, well used wooden spoon. "I use it when the customers, or my children, get out of hand." She gave Wufei a look that made him want squirm. "Also good for nephews who start fights when they should be working." Wufei blushed dark red.

"Auntie, please!" Wufei said, sounding just as shamed as he looked. Auntie just HAD to say things like that in front of Nasty, didn't she?

Nasty laughed and Wufei scowled at her before looking back to auntie and tried to sound strict. "I told you to rest, auntie. You've been very stressed these past few days."

"Don't you worry, sweetie. The lunch crowd is almost gone. You can handle the cleaning up alone, can't you?" Auntie said, looking around at the nearly empty restaurant. "Nasty, dear, you come upstairs and help me with Lai." Auntie took Nasty's arm and guided her to the narrow stairway.

Nasty shot a confused look at Wufei who just shrugged. It was better to just do as auntie told you, in the long run. One really couldn't fight her andone certainly couldn't argue. Nasty let herself be pulled away and Wufei hoped and prayed to every god he could think of that auntie wouldn't tell Nasty any embarrassing stories. Unless they were about Xiu, however. He would have deserved it!

**A short while later-**

"Wufei."

Wufei turned at the familiar voice to find Quatre and Trowa standing at the counter and staring at him. "What the Hell happened to you?" Wufei demanded upon seeing Quatre's face. He stopped stirring the pot for a moment to reach over the counter and touch Quatre's face, so badly lined with scars it looked like someone had taken a razor blade to Quatre's face.

"I was..." Quatre looked around at the mostly full restaurant, his eyes nervously flittering around all the faces. "I'll tell you later. Can we talk?"

Wufei shrugged. "Talk. I'm busy and I can't stop working yet. Tell me who did that," He pointed at Quatre's face, "And I'll take care of them for you." How dare anyone hurt his sweet, gentle friend!  
Quatre gingerly touched his cheek. "This isn't as bad as it looks and it's gotten quite a bit better lately. I really think we should talk in private."

Wufei raised an eyebrow, but didn't stop cooking. "You'll have to wait then. I'll be closing up in a half an hour." Wufei had half-expected Quatre to insist that they talk now, but the blonde just sat at the counter, with Trowa at his side, and waited quietly.

A half an hour later, after Wufei had taken down the open sign and closed the doors, Quatre was still there, waiting. Wufei started to sweep the floor while he waited. When Quatre didn't say anything, Wufei asked, "Well? What did you come here for?"

"Are you 05, pilot of Shen Long?"

Wufei dropped the metal broom and it clattered loudly on the floor. His heart stopped for an instant and Wufei slowly turned toward Quatre again. "You...you know?"

Quatre nodded. "I'm 04, pilot of Sand Rock."

Wufei nodded at Trowa. "I assume you have something to do with this all, too."

"I am 03, Pilot of Heavy Arms."

"I see." Wufei sat heavily at one of the restaurant's small tables and put a hand to his forehead. His whole life had just become a whole lot more complicated. "I...I presume you're the missing pilot I was sent to look for?"

"Yes."

Wufei looked down at his feet, feeling miserable. "I'm sorry. If I'd known it was you, I would have gone looking for you, but they never gave me a name. Just said that a pilot was missing."

"It's alright." Quatre reassured him.

"No. It isn't. How many of us are there?" Wufei asked gruffly as he stood and started cleaning the tables for the dinner crowd.

"As far as we know," Quatre answered. "Only one other, Heero Yuy, also known as 01, pilot of Wing Zero. Have you met him?"

Wufei shook his head. "I don't know the name, at any rate." He gave Quatre and Trowa a sour look. "From the way things are going, though, I shouldn't be surprised if he's my own cousin."

Trowa spoke for the first time. "Heero is about our age, and was trained by Doctor J. Heero helped me to track down Quatre, but we couldn't contact you to get your help." This last remark was obviously meant as a question.

Wufei said nothing, but tightened his lips.

Trowa persisted. "Why didn't you answer Master O's calls? He told me it was unlike you not to keep in contact."

Wufei hesitated and wondered about how much he should tell them. "I don't know how you'll react." Wufei put down the cleaning rag and focused on them, to show them how serious he was. "But I think you've got a right to know. We've been betrayed."

Quatre's eyes got wide. "What?" He asked in disbelief. Trowa sat a little stiffer, but he remained silent.

Wufei continued, "What was your mission? Why were you trained?"

"To free the colonies from Earth and the control of the Alliance." Quatre answered automatically. Trowa nodded in agreement and Wufei recognized the phrase as the exact one he'd been indoctrinated with. "Why?" Quatre asked. "Weren't you taught the same?"

Wufei started to pace the room, getting himself more and more worked up. "Oh yes. For seven years I was told the exact same thing. It was pounded into my head. 'We need to free the defenseless colonies. The people can't fight for themselves, so you must! It's only justice to defend the weak!' I was completely fooled." Wufei said bitterly after quoting what Master O had told him so many times.

A chair suddenly got Wufei's attention and he kicked it savagely, breaking it into kindling. "Why did I believe him! That liar. That dishonorable liar!" Wufei was almost screaming now and only the firm hand that landed on his shoulder silenced him. Wufei turned on whoever had dared to touch him, to find that it was Trowa. Somehow, Trowa's serene face managed to calm Wufei.

"Tell us." Trowa said simply.

"They, doctor J in particular, have betrayed us." Wufei told them darkly. "They have made a deal to sell us to OZ. A woman named Une was planning to assassinate OZ's commander in Chief, Trieze Kushranada, and then take over OZ for herself. Doctor J was planning to have us all reeducated and then send us to fight for this Une woman. Animals. He called us animals and mere weapons." Wufei looked at them to see an expression of shock and horror on Quatre's face. "I have proof! A videotaped conversation between doctor J, Lady Une, and some mercenary named Mayers."

Trowa and Quatre's eyes widened at the mention of Mayers. "It's all very coincidental, isn't it?" Quatre said, frowning slightly. "Mayers was the man who kidnapped and tortured me. He's the man who used to employ Trowa. You're sure about your information, Wufei? There couldn't be a mistake of some kind?"

Wufei shook his head. "I'll show you the evidence, if you like, but we've all been played for fools. All these years we've been puppets." Wufei's face hardened. "I will NOT work for them anymore! They have no honor and they don't deserve my skills. I don't care what you do." He gave them a tight grin. "Yes, I know you've been sent retrieve me or kill me. I don't care! I will kill myself before I'll betray the people depending on me!"

Quatre said quietly, "I think it is time that we all reevaluate our positions." He looked from Wufei to Trowa. "I've known Wufei for a long time, Trowa. He NEVER lies. But, we all need to make very sure we know what's going on." Quatre suddenly yawned and then gave an embarrassed laugh. "I guess I'm not as well as I though I was if this little trip has tired me out so much. Trowa, will you walk me home?"

Trowa looked uncertain. "My mission..."

"Has been postponed." Quatre finished, taking Trowa's arm for support. "You can complete it later, if it's even necessary. You wouldn't obey orders from someone you knew was planning to betray you, would you? Wufei, will you come with us and show us that evidence you found"  
Wufei shook his head. "I have responsibilities here. My auntie needs me right now. I'll come to your place tonight, Quatre, and I'll show you what I've found." Wufei was telling the truth, but there was also the fact that he really didn't want other pilots to find out it was Kushranada's sister who actually had the evidence or that it was at Kushranada's home.

Together Quatre, leaning on Trowa's arm for support, and Trowa walked out of the restaurant and Wufei started cleaning again. He only then noticed the shattered chair and groaned before giving asighed and sitting cross-legged on the floor to repair his mistake.

**Several hours later-**

"I'd like to help look for 05." Quatre told the computer image of doctor H.

Wufei and Trowa were currently standing in front of Quatre's desk, just behind the computer monitor so doctor H couldn't see them. Trowa, as usual, had a still face, he just watched Quatre. Wufei was, as usual, scowling and held the incriminating videotape in one hand. They'd all just finished watched the tape and Quatre was still having a hard time believing what he'd seen, but Wufei had no reason or way to falsify such a tape. It had to be real. Two of the three people on the tape were dead, Wufei told them, but doctor J was still out there and still dangerous.

Currently, the doctors had no idea that they'd been found out. They also didn't know that Heero was currently in a different dimension.

"Unnecessary." Doctor H replied. "03 and 01 are well able to take care of this mission alone. You are to go to the city park in one hour, we'll meet you there." The image of Doctor H abruptly vanished and Quatre looked up at his two friends.

"What are you going to do?" Wufei asked.

Quatre stood up. "I'm going to do as I was ordered, of course." He knew it was dangerous, but there was no way to refuse without looking suspicious.

Trowa seemed to realize it, too, and frowned. "I don't think that is wise."

"Wise or not, I have to."

"Damn it!" Wufei exploded, waving the tape around. "You saw what Doctor J is trying to do to us! You can't possibly trust them."

"I saw what doctor J is planning to do, true. But we don't know if the other doctors are involved in this, yet. It might be doctor J alone. We can't turn our backs on them without knowing what's going on." He flashed an innocent smile on them, looking as cute as he possibly could. "There's no reason for me NOT to go, so if they are all going to betray us, we don't want them know we've found them out. Don't worry, I'm sure everything will be fine."

Wufei turned away sourly at Quatre's optimism. "I'm not reassured."

"Quatre's right." Trowa said slowly, looking as if he didn't like what he was going to say. "If we act oddly, they'll come looking for us and that means possible reeducation. I don't want to have to go through that." He tilted his head forward just enough to let his hair cover his face for a moment. "We don't know anything but what we heard on the tape."

"That's why I have to go." Quatre said brightly. "I'll get whatever information I can and I'll come back soon."

"At least let us go with you." Wufei tried to persuade him. "In an hour it'll be dark and Trowa and I can hide, but at least we'll be able to see you and help if they try to do anything to hurt you"  
Quatre shook his head. "No. If they see you, and I'll admit the chance is small, they'll know something's up. You two have to stay here. Rashid knows all about my being the pilot of Sand Rock, so he'll help you with anything you need. I have some places where I can keep Sand Rock relatively hidden, so why don't you use this time to bring Shen Long here?"

"Her name is Nataku." Wufei corrected him. "I don't see why we have to humor those doctor's anyway." Wufei said with a sneer. "We should confront them with our evidence and demand an explanation."

Again, Quatre disagreed. "What about Heero? We can't make that kind of a decision for him. Whatever we do, it'll affect him, too. We have to talk to him and find out what he knows. He's the one who was trained by doctor J, if I'm right, so he might have more information than we do."

**One hour later-**

Quatre stood alone in the dark, under a burnt out lamplight. It didn't take long before a heavy hand landed on his shoulder. Quatre turned to find doctor H smiling at him from behind his long, pointed mustache. "Good evening, Quatre. I'm so glad you could make it."

Quatre smiled back. "I've always been reliable, haven't I? What did you need to talk to me about"  
The shadows behind doctor H started to move and Quatre's smile waved slightly, though he forced it back into place quickly. Out of the darkness came four other doctors. One of them, Quatre recognized with terrible clarity. Doctor J came closer, taking the lead and doctor H stepped back, letting the other man take control.

"We need you to test a new invention to help in the war, Quatre." Doctor J said with an oily voice. His mechanical hand was opening and closing with eerie clicks and Quatre didn't like the way doctor J's goggles were so focused on him.

Still, to keep up pretenses, Quatre nodded. He couldn't give them any reason to search his home and find Wufei or Trowa there. "What do you need me to do?"

Doctor J smiled and put and arm around Quatre's shoulders and he pulled Quatre along as they started to walk into the deserted park. "We have a new weapon, called the Zero System…"

**To be continued...**


	26. Zero System

A/N: Born to be Kings is a song by Queen.

**Chapter 26: Zero System**

**In the city-  
Noin-**

It was night when Noin reached her destination. The neighborhood was like another, but Noin watched the apartment complex warily with her gun held ready. She waited in the shadows of a building on the opposite side of the street. The alley was dark enough that she was sure she wasn't seen, but empty enough she knew there was no one else lurking there. The last thing she needed was for someone to ambush her from behind.

She'd waited for hours. It was only because of Anubisu's help that she'd been able to come this far. Without his description of the mysterious 'doctor' Noin wouldn't have been able to locate him or the apartment building he'd bought. Frankly, it was an anticlimax. The evil kidnapper was hiding out, not on some suspicious foggy wharf, but a very common building in the middle of a respectable neighborhood.

When a single car, long and black, pulled up to the curb in front of the building, Noin instinctively stepped backwards for better concealment. The first man who stepped out of the car fit Anubisu's description perfectly.

He was short with one mechanical arm that was primitive yet apparently it worked well enough. His eyes were hidden behind small goggles that seemed glued to his face. His hair was long, combed away from his face, and hanging down his back. He also had a sharp mustache and beard.

Noin felt her heart speed up while she tried to decide what she should do next. The smart, logical thing would be to contact Trieze and ask for some help. He could easily have the building searched and anyone inside detained for questioning.

Four more men stepped out of the car with one younger boy, but Noin had to squint in the twilight to be able to see them properly. The boy was the least remarkable one of the group, though he was rather pretty. Noin was surprised when the boy stepped into the light of a streetlight that it was Quatre Winner. He looked well enough, far from the tortured boy they'd seen on the computer.  
The three other older men had odd hair and strangely distorted features. One had the longest nose Noin had ever seen on a human and evil eyes peering out from under his wiry, gray hair. Another man was immensely tall and completely bald. The third had a mustache that was so long and pointed, it looked like it belonged in a cartoon. The forth man seemed to have a fake nose.

Noin knew these were the people she'd been searching for. Her grip on her gun tightened when she saw one of the men put an arm around Quatre's shoulders as they walked up the steps to the apartment and, by the way Quatre stiffened under the man's touch, she knew he didn't like it. Perhaps Quatre was just another experiment.

_I will NOT let this happen!_ Noin pulled out the communicator she kept in her pocket. Trieze could be there in minutes with one little call. "Noin calling Trieze, please respond." Noin waited a few minutes, but there was no answer. She repeated herself, "Noin calling Trieze, please respond. This is urgent." Again, no answer. _Damn,_ Noin thought. _If he's STILL with Millardo, I swear..._

**Kushranada estate-  
Trieze-**

Trieze rolled over, snuggling against Millardo's broad chest and sighed happily. Millardo was hairy. He had a wonderful rug of thick hair on his chest, the same pale blonde as the hair on his head, and Trieze took a good deal of pleasure resting the side of his face on that hair. The whole situation was made more pleasant when Millardo began petting Trieze's hair.

"You're purring." Millardo's voice throbbed inside Trieze's head. "We have to think about getting up."

"Yes, I suppose so." Trieze stretched and arched his back, trying to wake up. With a yawn, Trieze rolled over and grabbed Millardo's helmet from the side table where it had been left. As he did, though, Trieze unwittingly knocked the communicator he kept for business. It fell to the floor behind the side table and when it did, the mute switched was accidentally hit. He wouldn't find out he had any calls until he found the thing hours later.

**Outside the apartment-  
Noin-**

Noin looked at her communicator in disgust. Trieze never let his communicator out of his sight, which meant hers had to be broken. _Damned thing! I just bought that, too!_ Noin threw the communicator down hard, hating the thing for breaking just when she needed it. _Not that it's going to stop me, of course._

Noin wasn't about to just leave, not when she'd finally found that maniac. Poor little, innocent Quatre inside with and he needed to be rescued. The poor kid had a rough life, he had to be rescued so often.

It wasn't difficult to sneak into the building, but Noin was grateful for the training she'd received about bypassing alarms. Inside the apartment building was quite different from the outside. It was all shining white and steel with masses of computers everywhere.

Noin carefully avoided being seen and crept from room to room, until she found what must surely be the main operations center. The room was lined with machines and computers and in the center of the room was a very strange, ominous looking thing. It was shaped vaguely like a chair, with a place to sit and armrests, but it was connected to the computers by dozens of wires and thick cables. There was also a helmet, looking somewhat like a motorcycle helmet, attached to the top of the seat.

Noin walked around the seat several times. _What on Earth is this thing?_ The room was completely silent, save for the occasional blips and beeps coming from the computers. Noin went to one of the computers and tried to make sense of the reading, but what she found was almost unbelievable. It was the work of a genius or a madman. Most likely, both. _This isn't right..._ Noin could understand everything the computers were telling her, but Noin didn't want to believe someone had the audacity to...no. There was no way this thing could actually work.

"Is this really necessary?"

Noin started when she heard the voice and quickly went to find herself a hiding place. These people were ruthless and she wanted to catch them by surprise, not the other way around. The only hiding place in the entire room was between two computers, one of which was wide enough to hide her unless someone deliberately looked into the space, but it would be easy enough for her to see what was going on.

Into the room walked the six people Noin had seen outside, getting out of the car. The young man, Quatre, was now dressed in a skintight black suit instead of what he'd arrived in. It was frighteningly similar to the flight suit Seiji had come home in. There were small round patches sewn into the suit that were likely monitors to watch his vital signs.

Noin tightened the grip on her gun when her eyes landed on doctor J, but she didn't shoot. She needed more information. Quatre could be a pawn in whatever doctor J was doing, just as Seiji had been. Her heart was thudding in her chest, demanding that she do something, but her mind warned her to wait, not to rush in.

"Of course it's necessary." Doctor J answered Quatre's question. "Zero System could be what decides the outcome of this war, when it begins. Zero System may even allow us to finish without to many casualties."

Quatre looked at the machine doubtfully, before he agreed. "I suppose whatever saves more lives. What do I do?"

"Just sit there." Doctor J indicated the chair Noin had been examining earlier and Quatre obediently did as he was told. "Now, relax. This will only take a few minutes."

_Damn!_ Noin carefully kept her cursing to herself. _They're going to hook the kid up to that thing!_ Noin raised her gun, ready to use it, if that machine looked like it might actually work.

Quatre sat in the chair doctor J indicated and allowed himself to be strapped in, his wrists being buckled to the arm rests by thick leather straps while the same thing was done to his ankles. One of the men, the one with a long, black mustache held out a thick piece of rubber. "Open your mouth." He told Quatre.

Quatre looked at the thing, doubtfully. "What is it?"

"It's to keep you from biting your tongue off should you have a seizure."

"Is that likely?"

"It's possible. Isn't that reason enough?"

Quatre did as he was told and let the man put the rubber in his mouth, biting down on it. The men then moved away from Quatre, going to the computers, all except for the long nosed one who stood slightly behind the chair where Quatre couldn't see him. Noin almost gasped when she saw the man pull out a gun at a signal from doctor J. She lowered her own gun.

_If I attack, they'll kill Quatre. If they think they've been found out, I'm sure their first priority will be to kill witnesses, and their main witness is Quatre._ Noin couldn't risk the boy's life. She would just have to wait until he was out of the line of fire.

"All set." Doctor J said, not giving Quatre the slightest clue that there was a gun trained on the back of his head. "Lower the system. From this point on, Quatre, you are going to be connected to Zero System. Don't fight it, just let the system show you what to do."

Quatre nodded his understanding and doctor J pushed a few buttons on the keyboard in front of him. The helmet, attached to an arm behind the chair, lowered at the command from the computer. It settled over Quatre's head, covering his eyes completely, but leaving his nose and mouth exposed. As soon as this was done, the rest of the scientists pulled out guns also and aimed at Quatre.

**Quatre-**

It was terribly dark for a long moment, but the helmet prevented sight and hearing. Like a sort of sensory deprivation device. If it weren't for the feeling of the leather straps on Quatre's wrists he might have been worried. As it was, he simply sat and waited.

"Zero System can defeat any enemy." Doctor J had told him while the scientists had driven to the doctor's hidden lab. So far, it didn't seem to be doing anything at all. Quatre was actually starting to think that this time the doctor's genius had run out when he saw something in the pitch darkness.

**0 **

'What was that?' Quatre tried to speak, but realized that even if he had, he wouldn't have heard any response while in the machine.

**1 **

There it was again. Another number flashing in front of Quatre's eyes, or was it in his own mind?

**010 **

"Just let Zero System work." Doctor J had advised. Quatre tried to relax and do as the doctor had told him, but considering all he'd learned from Wufei about doctor J's duplicity, it was hard.

**101010010111**

It seemed to be a type of computer language used long ago - binary. It was a language of just zero's and one's. Perhaps the computer itself was trying to talk to Quatre in a way. Quatre focused on the numbers a little harder, but it didn't make any difference, the numbers started to flash across his mind at increasingly fast speeds.

**010100010010100100111100...Hello, Quatre...101100010110110**

Quatre gasped. _This thing just spoken to me? It knows my name? This must be part of it's programming and..._

**No, Quatre. I am not a program. I am programming you. 11010001111110011110**

_Programming me to do what?_

**1010001010100111100...Win. Do not be concerned, we will be one soon.**

_Be one? I don't understand._

**You will. Very, very soon.**

Quatre started to struggle against his bonds, wanting desperately to be freed. It was just getting too strange. Computers were not supposed to talk, not like that!

**I am not a computer, Quatre. I am Zero. I am Quatre. 010111101001001001**

_No! I'm Quatre, you're just a machine those loony doctor's made!_ Quatre spit out the rubber mouthpiece they'd given him. He had to get their attention, they had to let him out. "Let me out! This thing is crazy!" Quatre screamed, but he had no way to get the helmet off and couldn't hear it if they said anything. Hands suddenly grabbed his arms and held him still. "No! Let me out! Let me…010..." Was that his voice? Why did he say that? "1110."

**We are one, you and I.**

_No, I am not a machine! I'm Quatre!_ Quatre tried to fight off the voice. He struggled to keep himself from drifting too close to what sounded inviting and safe. The voice of Zero System sounded strong and sure. Quatre wanted to be with it. He wanted someone to take care of him instead of him having to take care of everyone else. _I will not lose myself to you! I have to go home, I have to find Touma, he needs me._

**You are already lost.**

_Rashid needs me! He loves me._

**You are lost.**

_Trowa! I want to be with Trowa! I love him and I haven't told him, yet._

**Lost.**

_The war._

**You will fight with me at your side. We will win and I will show you how to win. 01001**

"01001." Quatre could feel himself being drawn into the system, it's will was overpowering. _I want to go home._

**01101101111 **

"01101101111."

**Noin-**

Quatre was chanting under his breath and if they hadn't been holding him at gun point, Noin would have killed them all here and now. Unfortunately, she couldn't endanger Quatre, which left her helpless as the boy screamed at first, terrified of whatever was happening to him.

_I can't even break him out of that machine without knowing what it'll do to his brain!_ They'd almost shot him when he screamed, but doctor J grabbed the boy and encouraged his associates to do the same, holding him down on the chair while he thrashed to get free. Gradually, Quatre's struggles eased and they were able to back away from him cautiously, as if they were afraid of him.

"Will he survive?"

Doctor J answered, "Who knows. Someone had to test the prototype, though. Winner here is the best candidate. If he can't handle the system, no one can, I expect. Remember, shoot if he shows the least sign of attacking you."

"We'll lose a valuable pilot." The bald one told doctor J.

"Better we lose him than one of us. We can always create a new pilot for Sandrock."

It was at that point that Quatre froze. "01101101111." He said out loud and quite clearly.

"Is that Quatre or the Zero System?"

Noin didn't know who spoke, she was to busy watching the boy. The voice was his, yet somehow, not. It was too cold and impassive to be Quatre.

"1101010101111100101." Quatre said.

Noin turned her attention to doctor J as he suddenly moved away from the other doctors and slid his own gun back inside his lab coat. The others, still kept their guns trained on Quatre, watching him intently. Suddenly, Quatre went quiet and the helmet lifted off his head, as if by it's own will. Quatre's eyes were closed. The restraints on his wrists snap open, freeing him and the doctor's, wary of doctor J's warning, back slightly away.

Quatre stood and his eyes slowly opened, revealing a glassy gaze. He looked around the room, taking in the doctor's with their guns and doctor J who was standing quietly in a corner of the room, both empty hands held in front of him. Noin's breath caught when his sharp blue eyes focused on her for a brief second before moving back to the doctor's in front of him.

'He saw me!' His gaze was terrifying. That was not the same boy who'd been put into the Zero System. His eyes were blank - lifeless. _The program worked._ Noin felt like throwing up. _They've linked a human to a computer. Dear God…let it be reversible._

"All threats must be eliminated." Quatre launched himself at the armed doctors. As he danced around the room, Quatre's arms and legs swung this way and that, avoiding the badly aimed bullets. He was able to disarm one of them and scooped up the fallen weapon. Coldly, Quatre shot each of them in the head. One shot each and they were dead. Quatre then turned his eyes and gun on doctor J.

"Come now," Doctor J said calmly. "I have no weapon. Do you think me a threat?" He held up his empty hands and Noin realized Quatre hadn't seen doctor J with the gun. "However, you do have another enemy in the room."

Noin felt her blood go cold.

"Come out, miss. We've known you were here the whole time." Doctor J said out loud, though he didn't look at her hiding place, instead, keeping his eyes on Quatre. "It's rather fortunate that you came to pay a visit to us. I was hoping to have someone to test Quatre on. Someone who actually knows how to fight." Doctor J stepped over one of the bodies of his fallen associates, and went to one of the computers. "You managed to disarm most of our security alarms, but I'm afraid you missed on. Pity for you."

Noin broke into a sweat when Quatre slowly turned and, once again, looked right at her. His eyes flickered down to the gun that was in her hands and Noin knew she was in trouble. Quatre raised his gun.

**Youja-Kai-  
Kenbukyou-**

On the battlefield, Kenbukyou watched the children celebrate their victory, though he was more interested in the battlefield itself. Such vast devastation. The grasses were still burning from Rekka's fire, sending plumes of black smoke into the air. Parts of the battlefield were flooded from Suiko's torrents, turning it into a marsh. The land was a of mass destruction and bodies lay everywhere. In short, it was one of the greatest changes the Youja-Kai had ever seen.

Of all the things he saw, the one thing he wanted to see was not there. Kenbukyou felt a wave of irritation. The demon lord himself was nowhere to be seen.

"Perhaps he's gone back to Arago." Rajura, garbed in full yoroi, moved to stand near Kenbukyou. He looked older in the yoroi, not like the boy he was. Such a young boy despite his many battles and despite his great power. Thanks to his blood and thanks to Kenbukyou, Rajura would always be a boy. Never a man. But that was all in the past. "Saranbo will not have died so easily."

"I agree. This is not the end." Kenbukyou said. "Arago will have already been told of this. What are your plans, Gen Ma-Sho?"

Rajura didn't have to think about it. "We will attack the city palace. There is little else we can do." He slung his weapon, a six bladed scythe, onto its holster on his back.

"Arago will be prepared for your attack."

"So be it. I would have preferred more secrecy, but fate works how it will. I will not hide for eternity from that monster. I will live or die as a warrior!" Rajura turned and stalked away to where his family was waiting for him.

Kenbukyou felt what was left of his heart swell with pride at Rajura's declaration. _After all, he's my..._ Kenbukyou's thoughts were interrupted by a commotion from within Rajura's group of people. _Why must children always bicker?_

Anubisu slammed his fist down on top of the unsuspecting Duo's head. Duo fell forward, limply, into Naaza's waiting arms while Heero tackled Anubisu in a futile gesture to protect Duo.

Kenbukyou shook his head. _Children..._

**Rajura-**

Shin gently put Kay on Kokuen-Oh's back. Since he'd taken Kay away from the battle, he hadn't put her down for an instant and held her close to his chest to protect her. It seemed odd to find a warrior who was both gentle and fierce in battle. Shin was a rare find and, Rajura thought, a great asset to the family.

"Take her to Byakuen." Anubisu told the tiger. "It won't be safe for her here."

Kokuen-Oh nodded.

"Will she be alright?" Duo asked, looking at his little sister.

After waving his hand to get rid of the illusion armor he'd given Duo and Heero, Rajura answered, "Yes. I think she'll be fine." ANUBISU, DO IT. Rajura looked at Anubisu who stood slightly behind Duo.

As fast as he could, Anubisu brought down his heavy fist on top of Duo's head. Duo fell forward and slumped into Naaza waiting arms. Naaza then promptly put Duo on Kokuen-Oh's back.  
Heero tackled Anubisu. Though Heero was unexpectedly strong and very fast, he was no match for Anubisu. "Don't be stupid." Anubisu said, easily holding the boy at arm's length. "Neither you nor Duo will survive a head on battle with Arago. He would have been too stubborn to admit it, but you both must go back to the Ningen-Sekai. There's no other way. It's completely likely that none of us will survive this battle."

Heero considered the argument for a moment and then he nodded, agreeing, and easily got onto Kokuen-Oh's back behind Duo.

Rajura looked at Ryou and the other children. "You don't have to do this, either. We won't force you to." He gestured to his brothers. "We are facing Arago, a very powerful demon. We will fight him and we will probably die."

Xiu burst out, "What? If you think you're going to die, then why?"

"He killed Sh'ten." Naaza told him bleakly. "We will kill him for that alone. This is your last chance. If any of you want to go, then go with Kokuen-Oh. You'll be relatively safe in the Ningen-Sekai."

"What do you mean, relatively?" Touma asked.

"If we lose, Arago will come after you next, there is no question about that. He may be satisfied turning you into his servants, as he did with us, but if he believes you to be threats, he will kill you."

Xiu's eyes narrowed. "Our families. They'll be in danger, won't they?"

Rajura nodded. "Most likely. It is Arago's preference to attack your weaknesses."

Seiji spoke, "I will fight with you. I don't want to live without my sister."

Ryou agreed enthusiastically. "I'm with you, too. I'll fight for mama Shs'ten." Then he turned to Duo's limp form. Heero had put his hands on Duo's braid, just holding it and looked at Ryou challengingly, as if to assert his right to touch Duo. Ryou only smiled, though. "Take care of my brother. I know he cares for you a lot."

Heero nodded his understanding.

In the end, they all agreed. Xiu wouldn't let his remaining family be put in danger and Touma didn't want his brother or his foster father to be threatened in anyway. Shin had Catherine and Trowa to worry about.

"Then we all go in together." Rajura said, privately thankful that they would fight together. He was also proud of their courage. "Heero, when Duo wakes up, tell him what happened. He'll probably have a tantrum, but he'll live."

Heero put one hand on Duo's back and held Kay on his lap to holding them both securely in place. He gave Seiji one last glance. "Come back. We have things to discuss."

Seiji nodded before Kenbukyou raised one hand to open the gateway. Kokuen-Oh leapt through without a second thought.

**Later-**

They went into battle, marching with Kenbukyou's army with the demon lord on his horse. It was unavoidable. Arago wouldn't let any of them live, now that they've betrayed him. If Rajura thought they could win without the children, he would have sent them back to the Ningen-Sekai. He knew that wouldn't happen. They needed to be as strong as possible. Even as it was, Rajura wasn't sure that they would survive.

_If we had all nine, if only we had the nine._ He thought, watching the city palace grow with each step closer they got. _Sh'ten believed there was great power in the nine combined. I wish he'd found out for certain. I wish he'd been able to finish his research._

Although Kenbukyou had done as he'd promised and brought his army, his people couldn't be expected to go into battle against Arago. The demon emperor was simply too powerful, but they were useful in getting the foot soldiers out of the way.

_This is it,_ Rajura thought, as they drew closer and closer. The foot soldiers were coming more and more readily. _We're finally going to be free!_

_-Here we are _

_Born to be kings_

_We're the princes of the universe-_

They marched, there was no real hurry. Kenbukyou's army surrounded them, effectively giving them an escort. The children were all nervous, but they'd had been waiting for this chance for so long. Naaza could think of nothing but killing Arago. Anubisu was in hunt mode, focusing on nothing but his prey - Arago.

_-Here we belong _

_Fighting to survive _

_In a world with the darkest powers-_

With all their power, it was too easy to think of themselves as invincible. _Perhaps we could have been, with Sh'ten. _Rajura thought. _Sh'ten always said that legends hinted at great power when the nine yoroi were combined. But now there's no chance of having all nine. Not without Sh'ten and the Oni yoroi._

_-And here we are _

_We're the princes of the universe _

_And here we belong _

_Fighting for survival _

_We've come to be the rulers of you all-_

When they finally entered the city palace, it didn't take long to realize something was wrong. While the foot soldiers did attack Kenbukyou's people, not one of them tried to fight the Ma-Sho or the young Ronins. They didn't even make the slightest effort to attack.

SOMETHING'S WRONG. Naaza said. THE FOOT SOLDIERS AREN'T FIGHTING PROPERLY.  
ARAGO ISN'T AFRAID OF US. Anubisu growled, his eyes narrowing as they entered the main part of the palace. THIS DOESN'T LOOK GOOD.

I DON'T CARE! HE KILLED 'TEN-CHAN! I'LL DIE IF I HAVE TO, BUT I WON'T LET ARAGO WIN! Naaza answered, two of his swords already in hand.

Kenbukyou followed them into the main palace, keeping a distance behind, seeming determined to be there at the end.

_-I am immortal _

_I have inside me blood of kings _

_I have no rival _

_No man can be my equal-_

They found Arago, of course, in the throne room, with Sh'ten's body cold on the floor. Face down in front of Arago with his beautiful hair spread out, covering his face. He had obviously been there for quite some time, probably since his death.

'TEN-CHAN! Naaza wailed in their mind, though outwardly he showed no sign of any change at all. He only took a brief look at Sh'ten's body before refocusing on Arago.

STAY FOCUSED. Anubisu said. SH'TEN WANTED THIS AS MUCH AS WE DO. WE HAVE TO DO THIS FOR HIM. FOR THE CHILDREN. The younger ones still stood bravely, ready to fight. It was a battle that no child should have to face.

_-Take me to the future of you all-_

"You can't win with only eight of the yoroi." Arago laughed. "Sh'ten is dead and you are powerless before me. Fools! I created the yoroi, do you think I do not understand how it works?"

**Sh'ten-**

"You will all die here and you will be with your loved brother again." Arago's voice was mocking as he laughed at them. "I will send your bodies to the Ningen-Sekai so you may all rot together. The yoroi will go to others and I will reclaim them later."

Sh'ten watched the scene before him with a sinking feeling in his stomach. _Please,_ He thought desperately. _Anyone who's listening, grant me the power to help my family. Don't let them die._ He didn't care about the yoroi or even if the Ningen-Sekai survived, but he couldn't just stand by and watch his family be hurt. I_ had to watch my daughter die. Don't make me watch them die._

With that simple prayer, Sh'ten felt himself being pulled towards his corpse. Something pulled him into his own dead body and Sh'ten opened his eyes. How odd it felt to look out of his eyes again.

Sh'ten stood and everyone looked at him, shocked and amazed. Even Arago was surprised.  
"You are dead, how is this possible!" The demon emperor demanded to know.

Then, a familiar sensation. His heart warmed as the Oni yoroi surrounded him, once again. This time, without being called.

**Anubisu-**

It was a dream, or a nightmare.

Everyone froze when Sh'ten rose and stood. _It...he...this can't be! Sh'ten is just as dead now as he was while he was laying on the floor._ Anubisu took a look at Seiji, and saw the usually unflappable young man with his mouth hanging open. Seiji shot a look back at Anubisu and they both understood. They, moreso than their brothers, had certain knowledge of the workings of life and death and they both knew Sh'ten was dead. This couldn't be happening. The yoroi solidified around Sh'ten and he slowly started walking toward Arago with the kusari gama held tightly in his hands. He was followed by the Ma-Sho and the Ronins.

Anubisu reached out for Sh'ten's mind, but it wasn't there. He couldn't find anything of him to hold onto.

Sh'ten offered no reasons for what was going on. He stopped in front of Arago's throne and remained motionless until all nine warriors stood together.

Anubisu looked at the raised faceplate Sh'ten wore and took a close look at his face. His skin was white, not pale, but white. Sh'ten's expression was the same Anubisu remembered him wearing. But there was no sense of him being alive. He was still dead. Sh'ten didn't look at anyone, but Arago. His eyes were burning with undisguised hatred. Arago attacked, using all of his power. He was afraid, Anubisu knew. He was afraid now that they were together and he knew he had to kill them before it was too late.

Sh'ten raised his weapon and charged, screaming furiously while he attacked, but before he could do anything, Arago's ghostly face vanished.

"Get out!" Xiu shouted, his eyes going wide. "There's something wrong with the ground. I can feel it!" When Xiu started running, everyone followed him. They moved as quickly as possible out of the palace and made it to an open area where Xiu declared the ground to be safer. Xiu looked around, his eyes wild and his hands clenching and unclenching around the shaft of his weapon. "I can feel the ground starting to shake."

As if to prove him right, at that moment, an earthquake shook the ground and nearly put everyone to their knees. The palace crumbled like dust, the great stones fell and disintegrated before they even hit the ground.

"What's happening?" Shin shouted over the noise.

None of the Ma-Sho knew. It had never happened before.

The ground cracked, just under the palace, opening huge rips through which strange fog drifted out and the hissing of steam as it hit the air. Arago stood up. Like a god of long ago, birthed by the earth herself, Arago stood. What a terrible sight! No longer just a ghostly head, but a giant. He must have been almost a mile tall and wielded swords.

Touma paled, holding an arrow ready in his bow. "How? How we can kill that thing?" He let the arrow fly and didn't look surprised when it just bounced off Arago.

It was a long battle. They attacked with everything they had. Still, in the end, it looked as if they would die, anyway. The children were on the ground, for the most part, and Ryou wasn't getting up. He'd taken a blow to the head and lay on the ground, almost peacefully. Seiji stood over him to protect him, but it wouldn't last long. This was the end.

"How dare you think you can possess my armor?" Arago thundered.

Anubisu felt a twitch in his heart and hoped he didn't die of a heart attack. That would be a pitiful way to die in the middle of a battlefield. Anubisu happened to see Naaza grab his chest and he frowned. Shin gasped and went down on one knee, holding his heart.

All at once, everyone fell. Anubisu hit the ground hard and though he tried as hard as he could, he couldn't get up. He could barely hold his eyes open. Everyone else had fallen with him. Everyone, but Ryou. Ryou stood up and looked at Arago with fiery eyes. Literally. His eyes were on fire.  
The world burst into pain and fire and Ryou exploded in white light. "I am Kikoutei!"

**Rajura-**

Rajura, while he couldn't move on the ground, stared up at the yoroi Ryou was wearing. White. The White yoroi Rajura's father had worn so long ago. Yes, Rajura remembered seeing his father, Hariel, wearing the yoroi just as he remembered the monk stealing the yoroi after his father had vanished.

After the pain had vanished, Rajura found that the rest of them had basically no power left and were helpless at Ryou's feet. Now, the yoroi was on Ryou and Ryou stared at Arago with a deadly serious expression. There was no stopping Ryou. He walked through the attacks Arago threw at him as if it were nothing at all.

"You are mine, Kikoutei! My creation." Arago thundered. "You can not fight me."

Ryou smiled and answered in a voice that wasn't entirely his. "You underestimate me and your own power. You created me well, but you never understood me." Ryou raised both swords. "I am not some puppet for you to control. I am Kikoutei! I am power!" The swords unleashed fire so great, Rajura had to shield his eyes. The fire sliced through Arago's leg and he fell, causing another earthquake when his huge body crashed. "I am greater than you, Arago." Another burst of flame and Arago lost an arm. "I am the potential contained within all of them," Ryou looked around at the fallen bodies of his friends and family. "How can you alone match the power of nine lives? Each of them has the power to bear me, and combined I am made all the more powerful." Ryou threw back his head and laughed.

It was the laugh that made Rajura realized what was going on. The laugh was not Ryou's. Whoever, whatever, Kikoutei was, it was using Ryou's body.

Kikoutei didn't bother to say another word as it raised its swords over its head. "Sen Kou Zan! (Super shot heavy flash bright cut)"

Arago vanished in the firestorm unleashed by Kikoutei's blades.

When it was over, Kenbukyou approached slowly with his swords at his sides. Rajura could only watch silently as the demon went to stand in front of Kikoutei. There was silence for a moment, but neither moved to attack.

"You have changed much." Kikoutei said softly, his voice strangely gentle.

"True." Kenbukyou answered. He reached out a hesitant hand to Kikoutei and Kikoutei reached out also. Their fingertips brushed briefly before Kikoutei flared slightly and vanished. Rajura felt his strength return very suddenly and around him the others were starting to get up also. Ryou was left in his light armor, arm still outstretched and touching Kenbukyou's fingers.

Then, without warning, Ryou's eyes rolled up into his head and he passed out, right into Kenbukyou's arms.

**To be continued...**


	27. Mama Fan and the Painful Memories

**Chapter 27: Mama Fan and the Painful Memories**

**Fan Family Restaurant-  
Mama Fan-**

Mama Fan was not in a good mood as she stood at the mantle of the fireplace in her apartment. It wasn't unusual for her to admire the photos of her family, but since the butchery of the colony that had taken most of her children, Mama Fan had spent more and more of her time at the mantle. It was worst that day, she couldn't seem to stop looking at the pictures on the mantle.

With a sigh, Mama Fan stepped away from the mantle and went to the window. She looked down at the busy street below for a familiar mop of black hair. Nothing. She listened for the roar of a motorcycle. Nothing.

_They have to come back. I can't lose them, too._

Xiulei and Wufei were two of her three children left. That they had just left so suddenly hurt. Now, there was only little Lai left and the house was so quiet.

Except for three of them, her family was gone. The rest of her precious babies were dead in a sudden storm of energy beams that had reduced an aging colony to Hell, her babies had died alone and terrified. _I wasn't with them. I should have been there. I should have at least been there._ But she wasn't. She'd chosen to have tea with the head of the Long clan and leave her children in the care of others.

The pictures were from family trips and school pictures, all of them just moments out of everyday life and all of them precious. Amongst the faces of her children were a few images of a strong faced man with an easy smile.

Mama Fan's eyes paused on the face of her husband. He'd always hated having his photo taken, but a family photograph needed the whole family so there he was, right beside Mama Fan with his arm over her shoulder. He had been taller than Mama Fan, but just as stout. It was an old picture taken when Xiu had been just a little tot and was sitting on his papa's shoulders. Papa Fan was making a face at the camera while his hair was being pulled by little Xiu, at that time, the only child of the family.

She ran a fingertip of the face of her dear husband. It had been almost exactly two years since his death. That thought brought her eyes back to Lai, the baby...no, not a baby anymore. Lai had turned into a plump, rosy cheeked toddler and could get into almost anything. The little girl was, at that moment, trying to figure out how to climb the cabinets to get into the cookie jar that had been put up, out of reach.

Mama Fan smiled and looked back at the pictures adorning her mantle. Lai wouldn't be able to get into anything, not yet. Mama Fan figured it would take Lai another two days before she figured out to push the chair to the cabinets and climb up that way. Xiu had figured it out in about an hour once he'd realized where the cookies were stored.

Another photo, taken a few years later showed more of the children as the family grew. Mama Fan took a deep breath, trying to choke down tears that were threatening to over run her eyes. She scanned the rest of the photos more quickly, seeing that the number of children grew until the one where she was holding newborn Lai in the hospital bed and her husband was at her side.

That was the last photo he would ever be in and Mama Fan had to pause again at his ever smiling face. "Oh...my love. I wish you were here. I need you. I feel so broken." She could never express how deeply she'd loved her husband. It just wasn't something one could put into words and when he'd died a part of her heart had been burned away. The day after Lai had been born, Xiu had come to the hospital.

**Flashback-**

"Mama..."

Mama Fan woke, trying to push the drugs out of her system. They'd given her something to get her to sleep, but she couldn't quite remember what. She'd half expected her husband to arrive today to take the newborn Lai home, but it wasn't he who called out to her. Xiu with his baseball cap in his hands and looking strangely pale stood in the doorway, shifting from foot to foot. His eyes were puffy and red.

"Baby?" Mama Fan held out one hand to her eldest and he came at her silent request, taking her hand before he sat on the side of the hospital bed. "What's wrong, baby?" It was something she hadn't called him in years, not since he'd grown old enough to be embarrassed about his mama giving him cute nicknames.

Xiu licked his lips and looked down at his lap. Mama Fan could tell he didn't want to tell her, but that it was important. Only then, did she notice the clock on the wall. "Xiu," She said, confused. "It's noon. Why aren't you in school?"

"Some...something happened, mama. I kinda thought I should come and..." He swallowed hard, trying to control himself and mama felt warning bells blaring in her mind. "Mama, when papa went to pick up Qwan at kindergarten...the police said..."

"Police?" Those warning bells were getting louder and louder.

Xiu nodded, still unable to meet her eyes. "Yeah. They came to my school today and wanted to talk to me. They tried coming here, but you were still asleep and they needed someone to take Qwan home from school." Xiu ran a hand through his unruly hair and took a quick look around the room before looking back at her with tears in his eyes. "Mama, papa got hit by a car when he was on his way to pick up Qwan. I...I don't know what happened, exactly. No one will tell me." His mouth trembled and Xiu put a hand over his mouth to try and stop it before he continued talking.

Mama Fan felt herself gasping for breath. _This can't be happening!_ That thought ran over and over in her mind. "Xiu, where is your papa?" The words came out as a whisper and Mama Fan knew if she tried talking loudly, she'd end up screaming.

"Here." Xiu wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "The doctor said he's still in surgery and in critical care. The nurse seemed awful busy and didn't tell me. It...it's bad, isn't it?"

Mama Fan nodded, sinking into her pillow. "Yes, baby. It's bad." _Very bad. He might not...NO! He will live. He promised he'd always be with me!_ Mama's attention was brought back to her son when he took her hand again and squeezed it tightly. He suddenly had a determined look on his face.

"Don't worry, mama. I'll take care of everything."

"Fan-san?" They both looked up to see a doctor standing in the doorway. She wasn't familiar, so Mama Fan knew this wasn't about the baby. It must be about her husband.

"Yes?" Mama Fan gave Xiu's hand an extra squeeze before sitting up in bed a little straighter. "Xiu's told me my husband..." Her voice trailed away, unable to finish the sentence.

The doctor bowed her head sadly. "I need to talk to you about a few things, Fan-san. I've just come from the operating room with your husband, but I'm afraid it's not good news." When the doctor came into the room and closed the door behind her, Mama Fan knew it was about as bad as it could get.

Xiu was rubbing Mama Fan's hand, as much for his own comfort as hers, and Mama Fan didn't dare look at him. Xiu was the spitting image of his papa . His eyes, his nose, even the shape of his face and cut of his hair, were all exact duplicates of his papa. "He was hit by a car."

"Yes, ma'am. During the surgery, he lapsed into a coma."

Mama Fan felt coldness washing over, like her bones were growing numb.

"His brain experienced sever trauma and his lungs were damaged. When the car hit him, his skull was fractured in several places. His spinal cord was severed. If he wakes up he'll be a complete invalid from the neck down."

"You said if." Xiu spoke up. "What do you mean?"

"It's not likely that he'll ever wake up." She gave Xiu a sympathetic look. "If he comes out of the coma, he probably will never be able to so much as open his eyes." She looked back at mama who'd gone pale and was shaking as tears ran down her face. "He's stable, for now. But, you'll have a decision to make soon, about heroic measures."

"Heroic measures?" Xiu asked. "What's that?"

Mama Fan looked at the doctor, horrified as she realized exactly what decision she was going to have to make. She didn't want to talk about this in front of Xiu. He was going to hurt enough by this and he didn't need to hear the details. "Where's Qwan?"

"Huh?" Xiu looked at her, surprised in the change of topics. "She's at Sing-san's house. He said he'd look after the kids for us."

Mama Fan wanted to flinch. Xiu was already distancing himself from the children and putting himself with the adults. Soon, he'd be playing the part of an adult whether or not he wanted to and she didn't want him to lose his childhood so quickly. She didn't want him to have to be the man of the house. "Be a good boy, baby, and go check on Lai for me. Then I need you to go pick up the kids from school and taken them home. Don't open the restaurant. We're closed until...well. We're just closed."

Xiu nodded and stood up. Before he left, though, he took a last look over his shoulder at her. "Are you sure you don't need me here, mama?"

_Need? Of course I need you here!_ Instead, she smiled as much as she could. "I need you to take care of the little ones. That's the most important thing you can do for me, right now."

Xiu nodded and left without another word.

"I think he understands." The doctor whispered when Xiu was gone. "Children always know more than they're given credit for."

Mama nodded. "But he's still my baby. I don't want him to hear this. How long do I have?"

"It's up to you, Fan-san. Your husband could live for years on life support."

"But he'll never wake. He'll never be...him again, will he?"

The doctor paused a moment before shaking her head. "I don't believe so. There is always a chance of a miracle, but..." It was clear she was upset by this, also. "Is there someone I can call for you, to talk to? A priest?"

Mama Fan shook her head. "There's no choice. I know my husband would never want to be dependent on machines. I know what he'd want." "Would you like it to be done as soon as possible?"

"No!" Mama Fan said sternly. "I want to be there. He deserves that much, at least. I will be with him when he leaves."

The doctor patted Mama Fan's hand and stood up. "We'll wait until tonight, then, when you're able to get out of bed. I'll send a nurse in to give you something to rest." With that she left and, thankfully, closed the door behind her. Mama Fan stared into space for a moment and tried to comprehend what she'd just done.

"I...I'm going to kill him."

Mama Fan screamed at the top of her lungs once and burst into tears, sobbing wildly until a nurse came running in with a syringe. Mama Fan barely knew the girl was there and she didn't feel the jab of the needle in her arm. She was only aware that, as she sank into oblivion, something most precious had been taken away from her and she didn't know how she was going to survive without him.

**End of Flashback-**

Of course, she did survive. She had to, for the children.

Mama Fan smiled at the next photo, a picture of Xiu and Wufei together for their first day of school together. Wufei was scowling, as he normally did, and wearing a neatly pressed blue uniform with a book bag hanging off one shoulder. Xiu had his fingers up in a victory sign and one arm around Wufei's shoulders, oblivious to Wufei's bad temper. In the background of the photo, Mama Fan's younger children making silly faces and jumping up and down, trying to get into the action. Yes, Wufei had definitely been a blessing to her family.

Wufei's own pain had helped the family work passed the loss of their papa and the children had latched onto him quickly. That last one was the most recent photo. None had been taken since... since she'd seen Xiu filthy from digging out the corpses of his brothers and sisters. Mama Fan swallowed hard. Then Xiu had vanished.

Runaway, the police said. Mama Fan didn't want to believe that. Xiu had never runaway from his responsibilities, especially to his family. He'd looked so scared the day he'd disappeared. She'd only asked him to hold Lai for a moment and he looked like he'd faint from fear before running out of the house.

Mama Fan felt something tug on her dress and she looked down at Lai. "'Fei? 'Fei?" The little girl asked softly. "Where 'Fei?"

Yes, Lai's first word had been the name of her only cousin, Wufei. It seemed Wufei had a magnetism for children. Yet, Wufei had left, too. Gone out the night before and hadn't returned or called yet, which was very unlike him.

"I don't know." Mama Fan patted her little girl on the top of her head. "But I'm sure he'll be back soon."

Personally, Mama Fan had at first thought it was the Yagiyu girl who was preoccupying Wufei, despite the fact that he'd only been a widower a short time. But now, as she thought back, his face had been deadly serious when he'd left, not the look of a young man going to visit his sweetheart. He did blush a lot around Yagiyu-san, but that didn't seem to be foremost in his thoughts. There had been something else.

Mama Fan had seen, when Yagiyu-san had come to visit, that Wufei liked her and possibly more. It couldn't be easy for him as he was still in love with Meiran who'd died so tragically. If Mama Fan knew Wufei as well as she thought she did, he wasn't going to admit to any kind of emotion to any girl, not for a long time, and she found herself hoping that Yagiyu-san would be able to wait for Wufei.

Mama Fan's mind went back to when she'd been upstairs with Yagiyu-san, talking and trying to get to know the girl. Mama Fan had heard strange voices coming from the restaurant after it had closed

**Flashback-**

Wufei was talking angrily. She couldn't quite tell who he was talking to, but as she listened for a moment, Mama Fan knew they weren't fighting, exactly. Wufei was just extremely angry.

"...betrayed"

"...mission"

"...I will not"

Mama Fan had wished her hearing were better, as she couldn't make out the whole conversation. She was about to go into the restaurant and ask what was going on when she heard the front door open and close. Whoever had been here had left.

She peeked into the room and saw Wufei sitting on the floor, looking cross, trying to fix a destroyed chair. She paused only a moment before going in. "Wufei, sweetie. What are you doing"

Wufei looked up and tried to smile at her. "I...er...had a bit of an accident, auntie."

"Don't bother. We have plenty of chairs in storage. That one's pretty well done for." She went closer and sat at one of the tables. "What was all that shouting about?"

Wufei looked at her with a guarded expression, though she thought she saw a glimpse of fear in his eyes. Now, what could make the little warrior afraid? "What did you hear?" He asked carefully.  
Mama Fan sat back in her chair and they examined each other. "Not much. Something about betrayal, though. Is there something I should know?"

Wufei seemed to relax. "No, auntie. It's not all that important. There's someone I know and they did something they shouldn't have done. That's all." His voice was deliberately calm and controlled, so mama knew he was lying.

"Wufei?" Nasty poked her head into the restaurant. "I have to go home, my brother will get worried if I don't show up soon. Thank you for your hospitality, Mama Fan." When she came fully into the room, Mama Fan saw that Lai was holding Nasty's hand and walking carefully. Nasty seemed to take to the baby without any hesitation.

Wufei stood up, abandoning the ruined chair. "I'll give you a ride. My motorcycle's just outside. There's something I want to talk to you about."

Nasty smiled, though she didn't quite blush, and handed Lai back to Mama Fan. "It was nice visiting, ma'am."

"It was nice to have you, dear. Come back and see us anytime, won't you?"

Nasty nodded and headed to the door with Wufei.

**End Flashback-**

When Mama Fan looked back on the incident, something just didn't seem quite right to her mind. _Well,_ Mama scooped Lai up in her arms. _I'm not about to be losing another of my children. What did the girl say her name was? Yagiyu Nasutei. Shouldn't be to hard to find an address._ Mama Fan went to the telephone book and started flipping.

About a half an hour and a taxi ride later, Mama Fan stood at the end of a very long driveway. "You could at least get us a little closer." Mama Fan complained to the taxi driver.

"Not on your life." He rudely told her with a fearful look at the distant houses. "You'll be lucky if you get ten feet up that driveway." He sped away without another word.

Mama Fan, though a little worried about the driver's ominous words, wasn't deterred. She pulled Lai up onto her hip and started walking. There were two houses at the end of the tree-lined driveway, one a modest home, but the other a mansion. The sight of it made Mama Fan swallow hard. It wasn't what she'd been expecting.

When the guard stopped her, Mama Fan had second thoughts. She held Lai a little tighter, though the uniformed guard didn't so much as raise her gun at Mama Fan. "May I help you, ma'am?"

"I hope so." Mama Fan knew that the best way to deal with people was to act confident and polite. "I'm Fan-san. I'm looking for Yagiyu Nasutei. I was told she lived here, but I'm not sure I have the right house."

"You do." The guard answered, cautiously. "You can't just walk in, however. Allow me to escort you to the door. I'll ask she has time to speak with you." She took out a communicator from her pocket and spoke into to. "Yagiyu-san, I have a woman outside the manor with a small child. She claims to be a Fan-san and would like to speak with you. Yes. Yes, miss. I understand." She put the communicator away and smiled at Mama Fan. "Yagiyu-san has asked that you go to the front door. She says she'll be down as soon as she can. Just knock."

The Kushranada manor house wasn't as large as the mansion that was currently under repairs, but it was far bigger than anything she'd ever seen. _Well, no sense in standing out here like a fool._ Mama Fan closed her mouth and rapped sharply on the door. It was getting late and she had every intention of bringing Wufei home tonight. She didn't want another lost child to worry about.

She waited a minute and then knocked again. There was a loud crash and Mama Fan would have sworn that she heard something going on behind the door. There was a loud thud and a crash. Mama Fan listened for a moment and then rapped on the door, again.

"Hello?" A young man with auburn hair and a slightly rumpled appearance answered the door. He seemed surprised to see her there and blinked at her before turning on a charming smile. "May I help you, ma'am?" He pulled the tie a little tighter on his red bathrobe, if the silky, expensive looking thing could be called a bathrobe. It didn't look very warm.

She hadn't expected the door to be answered by Kushranada himself. Mama Fan put on her best smile. "Hello. I'm looking for a young man, my nephew, named Chang Wufei. Have you seen him? He's about sixteen with dark hair and eyes."

The man raised an eyebrow. "Chang Wufei?" He opened the door a little wider and Mama Fan knew he recognized the name. "May I ask why you're looking here for him?" He gave her a polite smile, but spoke in a haughty manner.

Mama Fan didn't like the tone this man was using with her. Man? Well, boy really. He couldn't be much more that twenty-two at the most. He sounded arrogant and suspicious, though he did have a charming smile. "Wufei left our home the other night with a young lady name Nasutei and hasn't been seen since. I looked her up in the phone book and this was her address."

"I'm sorry, but there's no one here by the name of Chang Wufei." The boy told her, his smile never slipping.

"Well, may I speak with Yagiyu-san?" Mama Fan was trying to stay as polite as possible even though she knew the boy was trying to deceive her somehow. She had no idea why, but she knew he was lying about something.

"I'm afraid she's indisposed." He smiled tightly.

Mama Fan scowled. _So, this little puffed up poppin jay wants to make things difficult, does he? He wants to play games with me! We'll see about that..._

**A few moments earlier-  
Trieze-**

"There's someone at the door, Trieze." Millardo shook Trieze awake and Trieze grunted, burying his face in the pillow. "Someone's knocking."

"Let them. They'll go away soon." He rolled over in bed and pulled the blankets further over his head.

"Get up." Millardo ran a hand over Trieze's ribs, causing him to squirm.

"As your commanding officer, I command you to let me sleep." Trieze mumbled into his pillow as he tried to escape Millardo's hands.

"You command?" Trieze heard a giggle and realized that he probably should have gotten up the first time. "Very well. Then I'll go answer the door, shall I? I wonder who it is? Perhaps one of the world leaders would like to see your right hand man answer your door in his birthday suit? Wouldn't that make for an interesting headline of tomorrow's paper."

Trieze's eyes sprung open and he sat up abruptly. "Don't you even think it! That body is mine! No one else gets to look at it."

Millardo laughed and jumped out of bed, still bare assed naked. "Then you'd better hurry." He started for the door.

"You wouldn't!" Surely, Millardo wouldn't go parading around like that! Before Trieze could blink, Millardo dashed out of the bedroom.

Apparently, he would.

Trieze grabbed his dressing gown from where it had fallen on the floor and threw it on as he ran out after Millardo. "What if Nasty's home?" He shouted. "She might see you."

"Are you afraid I'll corrupt your little angel?" Millardo's mocking voice teased from down the hall. "Sweet little Nasty."

Trieze rounded a corner to see Millardo at the front door, reaching for the handle. Trieze let out a little squeal of horror. As if he needed anyone to know he let a naked man run around his house! Trieze made a flying leap for Millardo and together they crashed to the floor in a heap. Millardo didn't even bother to wrestle, but let Trieze sit on top of him. "Get out of my living room and get dressed." Trieze hissed, praying that whoever was at the front door hadn't heard anything. "You can come back when you're decent."

"As my commander commands." Millardo whispered submissively before putting his arms around Trieze's neck and pulling him down till they were touching noses. "Will you miss me?"

Trieze let himself relax and he instantly forgave Millardo's teasing. "You'll only be gone a few minutes."

Millardo shrugged. "My heart will break each moment I'm parted from you." Then he kissed Trieze lightly and rolled Trieze over onto his side so he could make a graceful exit. "Next time, get up when I tell you to."

Trieze blinked after the man for a moment with a foolish smile on his face. The knock on the door was enough to bring him back to Earth and he stood, making himself as presentable as possible.  
"Hello?" He swung the door open to see a large Chinese woman with a small squirmy child balanced on her hip. She smiled at him and Trieze's mind went into overdrive. _Do I know her? Why's she here? Am I going to regret answering the door?_ "May I help you, ma'am"

The conversation went quickly down hill and Trieze wasn't sure why. No, that wasn't quite right. He knew exactly where it had gone wrong. He'd answered the door. He'd done his best to be civil to this complete stranger, as he always had excellent manners, but the woman just insisted on talking about Nasty.

At first it wasn't so bad, but then she started hinting that there was something going on between Nasty and that Chang boy.

No mistake, Trieze thought Chang-san was a very nice young man and brave for what he'd done for Trieze's family. None of that mattered when it came to Nasty, though. She deserved only the best and it was yet to be proven that Chang-san was the best. Trieze had been intending to find out all about Wufei, but he just hadn't had time. After Une's death Millardo had effectively kept him busy and, well, he just didn't have time to research Wufei.

"I just want some answers!" The woman said. "I know Wufei came here with Yagiyu-san, he drove her home. She must know where he went afterwards."

_Nasty brought a boy home without telling me!_ Trieze fumed, silently deciding to have a long talk with his sister. "I'm sorry, but my sister..."

"Is right here! What's going on?" Nasty was suddenly behind Trieze and peeked over his shoulder. Her smile brightened when she saw the woman at the door. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Mama Fan. Trieze, don't be so rude. Leaving a lady at the door! Please, come in." Nasty shoved Trieze gently to the side and took the woman, Mama Fan's, arm to guide her into the house.

"Nasty?" Trieze stared after the two women for a moment before following. So...Nasty really DID know the woman. Trieze followed a bit more slowly to where Nasty was having Mama Fan sit in the parlor. Yes, a long talk with Nasty was in order. She really shouldn't hide important things like this from her own brother. "What this about you seeing that Chang boy?"

Nasty didn't answer, but looked over her shoulder and winked saucily at him with her arm still around the Chinese woman.

**Mama Fan-**

Without even having to be asked, Nasty made introductions. "This is Mama Fan, she's Wufei's aunt, Trieze. Mama Fan, this is my brother, Trieze. Would you like some tea, ma'am?" Once in the parlor Nasty did her best imitation of a hostess.

Trieze was sulking.

"Thank you, Yagiyu-san. Have you seen Wufei? He didn't come home last night when he was with you." Mama Fan set Lai on the sofa beside her and strictly told her not to move.

"He was with you?" Trieze demanded again. He didn't want to get side tracked from this line of questioning, apparently. "Nasty, what's going on? Is he hounding you"

_Ah,_ Mama Fan thought wisely. _The infamous OPBBS (Over Protective Big Brother Syndrome) rears its head._ She was well acquainted with it, having both Xiu and Wufei around. Xiu was notorious for it, as was Wufei, though he shifted it to his younger female cousins instead of sisters, especially after the incident at the colony.

"Mama Fan, please, call me Nasty. Trieze," Nasty said finally. "You need to relax a bit. I went looking for Wufei, if you must know." She looked at Mama Fan. "I'm sorry, but he just came here to borrow a video we were both...er...interested in. He left quite quickly. I'd assumed he went straight home."

Trieze broke in again. "He came here? I didn't see him."

Nasty rolled her eyes, but didn't bother to look at Trieze. "You were a bit busy. With Millie."

Trieze flushed. "I just don't want to see you get involved with someone who isn't up to your standards, Nasty."

"What?" Mama Fan growled, her left eye twitching. She carefully put down the teacup she'd been holding. "Are you suggesting that MY nephew isn't good enough for your sister?"

Trieze's face-hardened. "My sister is one of the most precious people in the world to me. I have been looking for a long time to find someone worthy of her, and I haven't found any. I don't want her to end up with some boy who doesn't appreciate her or can't take care of her properly."

"How dare you!" Mama Fan fumed.

"I don't mean any offense, madam, but I want only the best..."

CRACK!

**Trieze-**

"Owww!" Trieze put a hand to his head where Mama Fan had whacked him. No one had EVER hit him before! "You.."

"How dare you assume that because we're a hard working family that we're not as good as you?" Mama Fan loomed over Trieze and all the fury he'd felt vanished instantly to be replaced by fear. The woman's anger was almost tangible. "My nephew is a brave and intelligent young man! He's at the top of his class, making nearly the highest grades in his entire school. He works hard two hours every morning before school and five hours after school every day in our family's restaurant. I'll have you know that my family is from a long line of honorable warriors and Wufei married into a noble clan. How dare you think you're any better than he is!"

Trieze slunk back against the wall, shamed. Somehow, Mama Fan made him feel trivial and worthless with just a few words. The thought briefly crossed his mind that he should call the guards, but how could he look them in the eye when a short, fat, unarmed Chinese woman was threatening him?

Still, Trieze pulled himself together. He was never one to back down from a threat. "Madam, I assure you..."

"Are you back talking me, young man?" Mama Fan asked in a dangerously quiet voice.

Trieze blinked. "Er...no...it's just..."

"I didn't raise my brood of children by allowing back talk, so don't you even start with me, child! As far as I can see, this conversation doesn't involve you, and you're only causing trouble. Nasty and I are talking so if you have nothing useful to say, sit down and shut up."

Trieze wisely sat down and shut up. _How did she get control of the situation? I thought I was supposed to manipulate...er...control things._

"Did you say he's married?" Nasty continued, her voice calm and even as she pretended not to see or hear Mama Fan's outburst.

"Yes, but he's a widower now." Mama Fan sighed sadly. "It was a great loss to us all when Meiran left us."

Nasty said nothing at that comment, but looked around suddenly. "Where's Lai?"

Mama Fan turned away from Trieze and looked around frantically. "My baby?" Nasty was right, there was no sign of the little girl anywhere in the room and the door to the front room was wide open. All three jumped up and ran to look for her. Even Trieze went to help search. He certainly wasn't going to let a child be hurt in his house.

**Lai-**

_Wow, big!_

Lai wandered around the big house while mama was talking to the other grown-ups. No one was paying attention, so it was safe to go looking around. Everything seemed so much bigger than it did at home. She was having a very good time looking at all the new things when she came to a door that opened onto a big garden. It looked like the park big brother and 'Fei took her to sometimes, but it was all walled in. Lai walked out onto the grass and smiled happily. There was no place like this at home and she liked the smell of the grass. The tall pretty trees and the bright colored flowers. The big white and black kitty cat.

Lai's mouth fell open and she smiled again. Sing-san had a kitty cat, but this kitty cat was MUCH bigger. He was standing in a corner of the garden and sniffing around on the ground. This kitty cat was taller than Lai and looked, to her, like it was as big as a horse she'd once seen. "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty." She called out and the kitty cat's head swung towards her, seeing her for the first time. "Nice kitty"

**Byakuen-**

_Can I help it if the foolish female ran away when I was taking a nap!_ Byakuen growled as he walked around Noin's empty house. He'd taken a short nap and when he'd woken up the woman had gone, leaving only her scent behind. He was fully recovered from giving blood to Anubisu and looking forward to the steak Noin had promised him when she'd thought he was sleeping. Byakuen also smelled traces for the other two males she seemed to like the company of, Trieze and Zechs. _I'll just have to go find her._

Noin was one of his pack and he was supposed to protect her, not let her wander around unattended! Byakuen found her scent outside her home and started to follow it. The scent led him not too far away to a couple of large houses where there were lots of humans working. For a long while Byakuen just watched the house. He wasn't sure why Noin would go there, but the place reeked of Trieze and Zechs. Perhaps she had come to find a mate. That would be a pity since he was unwilling to let her mate with either of them and he would kill both before he would allow her mate with them. They were unsuitable.

Eventually, when Noin didn't appear in any of the windows and she didn't leave the house, Byakuen started looking around, peering in the various windows of the house. He didn't see much of interest until he came to one of the bedroom and looked in to see the two males, Trieze and Zechs, mating.  
Byakuen watched for a moment and then walked away, content. Now he didn't have to worry about one of them trying to mate with Noin. Still, there was no sign of Noin anywhere and her scent died outside the house. If she wasn't here, he had no idea where to look.

The tiger ended up in a garden, disgusted with himself. _Some cat I am! I can't even protect my own pride._

"Here kitty, kitty, kitty."

Byakuen looked up at the strange voice and was surprised to find a tiny human cub walking towards him. _What the..._

"Nice kitty."

The little cub wandered closer and Byakuen lowered his head to get a better look at it. Female, probably. No more than two years old, if that. She did smell vaguely familiar, like one of those boys Ryou was now associating with.

There was a gasp and Byakuen looked up to see three more humans, including the alpha, Trieze. Byakuen narrowed his eyes at the three newcomers. With Trieze stood a young female with long auburn hair who looked slightly like Trieze and an older female who was staring in horror at the little cub now scratching Byakuen's chin. Byakuen stepped back, so he could look at the cub better, then looked back at the older female. Yes, there was a definite resemblance.

Byakuen's opinion was confirmed when the cub looked at the older of the two females and started chanting happily, "Mama, mama, kitty, kitty, kitty!" She laughed and then went back to examining Byakuen.

It would have been almost funny if, at that moment, Byakuen suddenly hadn't heard a familiar voice. BYAKUEN!

KOKUEN-OH? Byakuen was aware of his twin calling to him over their link and turned away from the humans slightly. It gave the older female a chance to rescue her cub. After being shut out for so long, it was good to hear the Kokuen-Oh's voice. WHAT'S GOING ON?

Kokuen-oh appeared next to Byakuen, no great flash of light or anything, just appeared carrying three children on his back. He gave Byakuen a familiar nuzzle before looking at the three astonished humans. WHO ARE THEY?

**Zechs-**

Millardo was happy. He'd finally gotten what he'd wanted, Trieze. Even as Millardo dressed in the clothes he'd abandoned when he'd managed to, um, convince Trieze to spend some time with him, Millardo hummed cheerfully. There was absolutely nothing that could put him in a bad mood right now.

Still, there was work to do. He'd have to find another aide for Trieze now that Une was out of the picture. Someone trustworthy and that he could count on. Once he was fully dressed, Millardo looked around for the helmet that would protect him. When he found it wasn't on the table by the bedside where he thought he'd left it Millardo started to get worried. It was one thing to be around friends and family without the helmet, but how could he possibly go into public without it?

He made an almost frantic search around the bedroom. "Where is it?" Millardo muttered. "Where? Where? Where?" By the time he was done, Millardo had over turned two chairs, pulled all the blankets off the bed, pulled all the drawers out of the dresser and emptied them, and finally found the helmet when he knocked over the side table. "Oh, thank God!" Millardo clutched his precious helmet to his chest and collapsed to his knees. If he hadn't found it...Millardo shook his head, unwilling to deal with that thought. He slipped the helmet on and felt himself slowly turn back into Zechs.

Calm. Rational. Controlled.

Zechs stood up and straightened his clothes, ready to go meet whoever had come to visit Trieze, when he noticed what had been under his helmet. It was Trieze's communicator and must have been knocked off the table at the same time Zech's helmet had been. When he picked it up, Zechs was surprised to find Noin's security number flashing on it. Why would she use the communicator? They were only for missions and she could have just used the telephone.

He immediately started to get a foreboding feeling in his stomach. Noin never called unless it was something important. He punched numbers into the communicator that should have connected him directly with Noin, but there was no response. Zechs looked at the door and then at the open window. He could go and stay with Trieze for a little while, but...what if Noin needed him? She certainly wasn't one to play pranks. As he didn't want to disturb Trieze or his company, Zechs chose to go out the window.

He'd just make a quick trip over to Noin's house and see what was wrong. It was probably nothing anyway and by the time he got back, Trieze might even have finished with his company.

**Mama Fan-**

Mama Fan didn't know what was real and what wasn't, anymore. Two impossibly huge tigers - one white and one black- and one of them with three children on its back stood not ten feet in front of her. Though her own baby was safe, she couldn't ignore the danger to the other three. She handed Lai to Nasty and steeled herself to make a rescue if necessary.

However, the one boy who was awake doesn't seem bothered by the tigers. He was holding the other two children very protectively. The boy looked around cautiously from under his shaggy bangs and his sharp blue eyes took everything in calmly. For a moment he studied the three people watching him. Perhaps it was Mama Fan's imagination, but she could have sworn that she saw his gaze harden into a glare when he looked at Trieze.

The brown haired boy easily jumped off the tiger's back, completely unafraid, and patted its head. "Thank you."

The black tiger nuzzled against his hand.

The boy turned back to Mama Fan and opened his mouth to say something, when a groan interrupted him. His eyes never left the adults, though he did close his mouth to listen. It was the other boy, this one with an incredibly long braid, who was trying to wake up.

"Ahh," He complained, putting a hand to the top of his head and rubbing a sore spot. "Heero, what happened?" This boy slowly looked up and blinked, looking all around before sliding off the black tiger's back and coming to stand beside the first boy, Heero. He staggered slightly, before Heero caught his arm to hold him steady. When he realized they weren't alone, he smiled sweetly at them. "Hi."

Mama Fan smiled back. He reminded her of Xiu. "Hello. Are you alright?" They all look like they've been through a war what with how beat up and filthy they are. Then her eyes fell to the little girl who still hadn't woken up. "Oh, the poor baby."

The braided boy picked the little girl up and cradled her close to his chest. "Can you help my sister. She's been have a rough few days."

Trieze nodded. "Bring her on in. I'll have a doctor sent for." Well, Mama Fan couldn't fault Trieze for that. At least the boy knew his manners. Mama Fan went closer to the braided boy and put her hand on his face to get a closer look at his injuries. Such a pretty child!

"I'm okay, ma'am." He told her with a weak smile. "I think I just got kicking in the head by a horse, though."

"That was Anubisu."

It was the first time Heero had spoken, even though he was still glaring at Trieze. It wasn't hate, Mama Fan was pretty sure of that, but just an incredible intensity in Heero's eyes that Trieze seemed to be easily ignoring.

The braided boy looked shocked. "Why would my own brother hit me?"

"He wanted you, Kay, and I out of the way for the final battle, Duo."

Duo paled. "What about them? What about Ryou?" His voice was raising hysterically.

Mama Fan took the girl, Kay, away from him. She was surprisingly light, and dressed in only a simple cotton dress. Mama Fan didn't think Duo should have been holding her in his state as he might drop the child. Duo turned on Mama Fan angrily.

"Don't worry." Mama Fan told him, softly. "We'll get it all sorted out, young man. Let's get you two and this little lady cleaned up and seen by a doctor and then we'll find out about your family." Mama Fan put on her most comforting voice and started walking toward Trieze's house. If Duo wanted to stay with his sister, he would have to keep up.

Both Duo and Heero followed behind her and Mama Fan heard Heero whisper to the distraught Duo, "Don't trust that man."

Duo asked, in a whisper, "Why not?"

"He's the enemy"

Mama Fan frowned, but said nothing. Now, why would Heero say such a thing?

**To be continued...**


	28. Emperor

**Chapter 28: The Emperor **

**Zero-**

Mental synchronization… complete.

Vocal use… activated.

Motor ability… activated.

Merger… complete.

Quatre/Zero opened their eyes to see four men in white coats aiming guns at them. Protective measures had to be taken. Quatre's mind the part that still belonged to him alone - was sluggish and distant. He tired to focus on their surroundings and Zero obligingly helped, easily steadying his other half.

_The doctors._ Quatre thought, seeing them at the same time Zero did. Zero knew them through Quatre's memories, knew what they had done and what Quatre though they had done. Zero knew they were a threat to Quatre which meant they were a threat to Zero.

Zero felt Quatre try to speak, but held him in check. Unfortunately, when Quatre realized he wasn't able to control his own body, he started to panic. _Why can't I talk? What's going on?_

_I am in control, Quatre. Don't panic._ Zero reassured him. _You must not provoke them while they are armed._

_Who are you?_ Quatre's voice asked hesitantly. _Are you that thing that was talking to me? Zero?_

_Yes, I am Zero._ They looked around, seeing out of Quatre's eyes. _We are one and I will protect us, Quatre. I have told you this already. Self-preservation is my primary directive._

Quatre was silent in his own mind for a moment. _What is your secondary directive?_

_Kill._

Quatre was desperately trying to take control of the body they shared, but Zero held Quatre firmly. _You are not emotionally suited for this situation and your judgment currently is flawed by stress of the merger. I will do this._

_Get out of my mind!_ Quatre was starting to panic and fight against Zero, even though that was rather foolish as he was nowhere near strong enough. Perhaps he would be at a later time, but at the moment he was too tired. _I'm not you!_

_We are one. There is no separation, no going back._ Zero stood up, feeling for the first time cold, hard metal under Quatre's bare feet. Cold. Sensation… it was all so new. Cold air. Bright lights. The smell of Quatre's sweat. So much information to store. It made Zero want to smile. Life.

Quatre didn't understand and was scared. Images of people Quatre knew kept flashing across Zero's mind, distracting It from It's purpose. He saw four boys, a particularly clear image of a green eyed boy with a grave expression, and others. There were two men, one immensely large and the other rather small. There was a blue haired boy. Family. They were Quatre's family.

_Do not think of them._ Zero told Quatre. _They can not help us._ Zero was confused. Why would Quatre be wishing for help from others when Zero was right with him? Zero, with Quatre's strong body, would easily protect them from any threat.

The doctors moved closer to Quatre/Zero with their guns still poised to fire. Zero blacked out the thoughts Quatre was trying to concentrate on, thoughts of the people that Zero didn't know, so It could focus better.

Though Quatre was a fighter and killer, he was under a great psychological strain. Zero decided that it would be best to let Quatre get some rest. _Sleep._ Zero gently pushed the Quatre into a safe corner where he wouldn't be aware of what was going on. _This will not take long._

Quatre protested, even as he was dragged away and he was falling into sleep, _No! That's my body! You can't have it! It's mine._  
Zero drowned out Quatre's voice, forcing him into a deep sleep. There was no reason to get Quatre more upset about than necessity. It would be easiest on him to spend his time unaware. Zero would let Quatre have control of their body once the threat was taken away.

It killed the doctors. The ones with the guns were easily killed. There was nothing else that could be done. They had to die for the sake of Quatre/Zero's life. While It worked on killing the doctor's, noting that Quatre's body was fast and strong. Quatre's body was both useful and expected. When It had been programmed, Zero had been given the knowledge that It would be working with a well-trained counterpart.

The doctors died efficiently with a minimum of effort on Zero's part. _Killing will become easier_, Zero realized, _When I learn to properly control this body._ After all the men with guns had been dispatched, Zero looked at the remaining one, the one Quatre knew as Doctor J and saw that the man was unarmed.

Non-threat.

It was at that pointed when Doctor J called out to a living being who had been hidden in the room. That one was...female. Yes, Zero scanned all of It's knowledge and decided that this one must be female as opposed to Quatre's male.

"I wasn't expecting you, young lady, but it's so nice to have visitors." Doctor J spoke to the girl, an unknown factor, as he stepped over the now dead bodies of his former associates. Doctor J kept his eyes focused on the girl, though he did keep his hands in plain sight for Zero to see, just so Zero would know that he wasn't armed.

Zero examined the girl who emerged from behind the computers and It's eyes were instantly focused on the small, military issue gun in her hands. The girl seemed afraid, her eyes darting from Zero to Doctor J. She was pale and sweating slightly, but she wasn't shaking. Her gun was aimed at the floor, not threatening, yet. Zero would wait and see what the intentions of the girl were.

Doctor J was very confident and, though Zero had not yet seen the doctor with any kind of weapons, It knew the man was dangerous. Quatre knew of Doctor J's intelligence, and therefore, Doctor J was dangerous to them. Intelligence was also a threat and so was the fact that Quatre believed Doctor J was helping to kill innocent people. The man was old, but his strength had been enhanced by the biotechnological additions to his body. Though he didn't look dangerous, he was, perhaps even more so than the unknown factor of the dark haired girl.

"How could you do that to a child?" The girl demanded, not looking at Zero, but at Doctor J. She waved her arm in Zero's general direction. "You may as well have killed him! How could you infect him with a system like that?"

Doctor J's eyes widened slightly. "So you saw and understood the Zero System? Interesting. Not everyone can. However, that changes nothing, really." Doctor J answered blissfully. He went to stand next to Zero. In all probability, he didn't understand that he was still under observation until Zero determined where or not to kill the man. It wasn't likely that any sane human would come near Zero if they understood that they were being examined.

_I won't let anyone hurt Quatre._ Zero thought calmly. The merger had brought it as close to Quatre as any thing could be to another. It was now apart of Quatre and would, as It's nature dictated, protect Itself at all costs. _Self preservation is utmost in priorities._

The girl tensed at Doctor J's words and the grip on her gun tightened, turning her knuckles white. Zero took note of the look in her eyes. She was no innocent in the way of killing. She'd done it before and would do it again. She had the means to kill and hate in her eyes when she looked at Doctor J. When she looked at Zero, the emotion changed to one of disgust and pity. Humans killed what they hated or didn't like. She didn't like Doctor J, so she would kill him. She didn't like Zero, so she would kill him.

Logic dictated the girl was the enemy. Reality had yet to prove that logic. Zero would wait until reality and logic agreed.

**Noin-**

_Dear God, that boy was looking at me!_ Noin didn't like the look in Quatre's eyes, sort of blank and cold. Noin started to tighten her grip on her gun, ignoring her sweating hands, she wanted to kill Doctor J. So badly that it burned in her brain, nearly blocking out all other thoughts, including how dangerous the blond kid was. This was the man who'd hurt Seiji and he deserved to die.

"Be careful, my dear." Doctor J warned with his smile growing by the second. "Zero was designed to destroy threats against it. Little Quatre now has the same objective and will kill you as easily as he killed my dolt assistants. Those fools underestimated the impact Zero System would have on the test subject. He is no longer just a boy, but a programmed killing weapon.

"Test subject? Weapon?" Noin said, outraged. "He's a child!" Damn, he looked younger than Seiji.

Doctor J started to laugh. "He is a killer. A perfect system designed for nothing but killing and I've given a very well conditioned body for Zero System to use. Oh, this is beautiful, simply beautiful." He turned to look at Quatre for a moment before bringing his mechanical, clawed hand up to Quatre's face and caressing it gently. "Quatre will rival even my sweet Heero in his perfection." There was a definite note of lust in Doctor J's voice and Noin felt sick while she watched him fondle the Quatre's face. For his own part, Quatre didn't seem to notice, let alone care, what Doctor J was doing to him. He simply stood there, arms at his sides and still holding the gun he'd used to kill the four other doctors. Quatre's eyes kept shifting from Noin and then to Doctor J, and Noin got the distinct feeling that she was being judged.

Noin started backing up, towards the door. Doctor J wasn't just insane, he was evil. Sweet Heero? Heero as in the cold-faced friend Seiji brought home the other day along with that boy, Duo? The skinny blue eyed kid that was covered in scars and seemed so angry? It wasn't impossible. Heero did act very much like Seiji at times.

_How far does this stretch? How many other children did this monster tamper with? What's he done?_ The thought hit Noin like a brick between the eyes. _That could be Seiji._ Noin thought watching Doctor J molest Quatre's unfeeling face. _My little brother could have been...what if that pervert DID touched Seiji?_ Something told her that the man wouldn't hesitate for an instant if he'd wanted Seiji, not if he'd decided that he'd wanted Seiji.

"Do start running, won't you, miss?" Doctor J suggested, turning to look at her with an easy confidence. "Zero is going to attack you if you raise your weapon an inch and you saw how easily he killed these worthless things." He waved an arm to the fallen men. "It would be easier if you just walked away, I suppose, but then you'd go and report to...who is it? Ah, General Kushranada. Well, we can't have that. After Une's unfortunate death, we had to come up with another plan that involves him. Can't have him getting suspicious at the moment, I'm afraid."

"What?" Noin asked, unable to keep the shock out of her voice. "What about Trieze? Who's working with you?"

Doctor J waved her question asked with a wave of his free hand. "Oh, it's nothing you need to worry about." Doctor J looked at Quatre. "Kill her."

Noin felt her heart stop for a minute and she stared at Quatre. She knew, deep inside, that no matter how good she was, she was no match for the programmed boy. She'd seen him in action and he would be able to kill her easily. But she froze. Instead of running or shooting or something, she froze like a damned deer caught in headlights! Noin would later yell at herself for being so stupid, she was trained for that sort of situation, she should be able to handle it!

"Unacceptable."

Noin managed to breathe when the boy spoke and was more than a little relieved to see Doctor J's stunned face.

"I gave you an order, Quatre." Doctor J frowned at his creation. "You must obey."

Quatre turned his cold eyes on Doctor J. "Quatre is sleeping at the moment. I am in control. Your order is unacceptable. We take no orders." Quatre turned away from Doctor J and started to walk to the door, which happen to be right behind Noin. "Only threats will be eliminated. She has made no threats, she will not be eliminated."

Noin backed away from Quatre - or whomever was talking - and watched him walk passed her towards the door. He walked with an odd stiffness, as if he wasn't used to doing it. Just as Quatre passed her, Noin saw Doctor J move quickly, out of the corner of her eyes, and she turned to look at him.

Doctor J pulled his gun out of the inside of his lab coat and fired off one, purposely miss-aimed shot at Quatre, then slipped the gun back under his lab coat. The bullet went into the wall a few feet away from Quatre who turned around furiously. Apparently, he was starting to lose the icy coldness.

"Threat." He said in a hissing voice, looking directly at Noin who still held her gun.

_He thought I shot at him!_ Without thinking, Noin did the only thing she could possibly do to save her life. She jumped though a window and fell two stories to the street below. Noin hit the ground hard, and she cried out when something pierced her back, most likely some broken bottle or other such garbage, but momentum kept her rolling until she rolled right onto the sidewalk. The glass from the window had shattered when she'd gone though it and she was bleeding badly on her arms where the glass had sliced her, but there was no pain. She couldn't feel anything because of the overwhelming terror. She knew Quatre was right behind her and she knew she couldn't kill him. That would be as if she were shooting Seiji.

_Run!_ Her mind screamed and she obeyed, not even looking to see if Quatre were even following. She didn't need to look. Noin ran into the city, reverently wishing she had some way to contact Zechs or Trieze.

**Zero-**

Zero watched the girl jump out the window and followed without hesitation, ignoring the madly cackling of Doctor J behind It. The flight suit protected It from the broken glass and his own skill and strength protected It from the fall. By the time Zero was on the ground, the girl was already running down the street. There was blood on the ground, proving she had been injured, so it wouldn't be hard to follow her. Zero ran after the girl, easily keeping up with her, but not overtaking her, yet. If It were to kill the girl in public, innocents would become involved and that was not acceptable. Better to capture her in a more private area.

There were people out on the streets and they gave Zero funny looks as It ran down the street. Zero heard people muttering and pointing at some poor girl who looked like she'd been hurt. Some of them were wondering about calling the police. Zero decided It would have to find the girl before the police did. Police might interfere with It and Quatre would be endangered. That was not acceptable.

Zero followed the girl into a construction area where It had seen her jump over a tall fence. She must have believed that it would offer her some safety, or she would not have spent the energy she had left to get here. Zero knew that with all the blood she'd lost, the girl must be weakening, and this pleased It. It wouldn't have to work so hard to kill her.

There was no one in the construction yard. A half-built building shadowed the area, like a skeleton without it's skin. The morning fog was heavy, making visibility difficult, but Zero knew It could operate in such conditions. It didn't bother calling out for the girl. There was no need. It would find her and then kill her. There was no escape.

**Youja-Kai-  
Shin-**

Shin was just glad it was over. More than glad, really. He was overjoyed that the nightmare had ended, finally, and just wished he could find the energy to open his eyes. Cathy would be waiting for him to practice and God knows the ringmaster didn't like it when his people were lazy. Trowa would probably already be doing his warm-ups and wondering when Shin was going to join him.

"Get up, buddy."

That wasn't Cathy's voice, nor was it Trowa's. It certainly wasn't the ringmaster.

"Come on, Shin." IT'S ALL OVER. WE WON.

Shin blinked at the familiar voice, better able to recognize it now that it was in his mind, and saw that the nightmare hadn't ended, despite what Xiu told him. The reddish sky overhead, dull with ash, proved that he was still in the nightmare. _I thought it was a dream._

Large, rough hands slipped under Shin's shoulders and pulled him into a sitting-up position, letting him rest against something strong and stable. Shin blinked again, trying to stop the world from spinning and he felt Xiu sitting next to him, touching his mind softly. YOU OKAY?

I WILL BE.

Dust and ash from the fallen palace was still drifting down and the air still smelled of smoke, so Shin knew he hadn't been out of it all that long. There was also the smell of sweat and blood lingering in the air. He let himself sink into the warmth of Xiu's arms.

Shin huddled against Xiu when a hand touched his own. I'M HERE, TOO. Touma's sardonic voice tickled Shin's mind.

I KNOW. EVERYONE'S SAFE, RIGHT? Shin asked, tightening his fingers around Touma's. Shin just felt so cold, deep in his bones, but Xiu and Touma made him feel just a bit warmer. On Xiu's other side, Shin knew Touma was sitting in much the same position, leaning against Xiu's side with one of Xiu's arms draped around him.

YEAH. I THINK WE KILLED THAT THING. Touma said. AT LEAST, I THINK RYOU DID. Touma's mind-voice seemed to shake with the memory of what had happened to them all, the wrenching agony of being pulled out of their bodies and the joy at being fused together. Then they had all lost consciousness and...a blank spot in their memories where something must have happened, before being thrust back into their bodies with the same pain as when they'd been taken.

Shin rubbed against Touma's mind, calming him even as Xiu rubbed their blue-haired friend's back. Shin knew he had to be strong. He just had to make sure they all made it out of here in one piece.

He'd seen them all, then, for just a split second, and knew them all with more intimacy than even the moment of their first touch. Even Seiji who was so cold and distant, his mind had been flung open against his will, and he had become apart of them. Shin saw, heard, and felt all of the pain from Seiji's life. And, though it all grew distant, Shin knew he'd never forget any of it, any of them. Shin didn't know if he liked it or not, but he knew he could never live without them again.

_I won't let any of them go._ Shin thought harshly. _I'll never let any of them get hurt._

Shin realized he should make sure he knew where everyone else was, though he knew without a doubt that Seiji and Ryou were alive and well, he wanted to see them. The Ma-Sho's weren't paying them any attention and were, instead, digging though the remains of the palace. Seiji was just starting to wake up, making no sound at all as he fought his way awake. Standing a few yards away from them, Shin saw Ryou and.

Kenbukyou was holding Ryou in his arms, doing nothing but standing there and holding Ryou like one would hold a baby. Ryou wasn't awake and showed no signs of waking up any time soon.

Seiji took immediate exception upon finding Ryou in Kenbukyou's arms. Of course, Shin didn't know Seiji well, but he did know that Seiji had an overpowering love for Ryou. He'd seen in when they'd all joined together and knew that Seiji was also very protective of Ryou. Still, Seiji had seemed to be a cool, controlled person which made his reaction even more startling.

Staggering to his feet, Seiji leveled an icy glare at Kenbukyou while he breathed hard. Seiji stalked over to Kenbukyou, his arms and legs seeming very stiff, like he was having trouble controlling them, and stopped just a few feet away from the demon lord. "Mine."

Kenbukyou apparently understood and handed Ryou to Seiji without a word. Even though Ryou was still wearing his yoroi, Seiji took him without complaint of the weight and carried him to where Shin was sitting with Xiu and Touma.

"When will he wake up?" Shin asked as Seiji sat in front of them with Ryou half-laying on his lap. Ryou didn't look good. He was pale and completely limp, sweat drying on his skin and he was covered in bruises and cuts. Then again, none of them looked very good. All minor injuries, but still they'd all taken quite a bit of punishment.

"Soon, I think." Touma spoke for the first time. "I'm not sure about this, but I think Ryou took our power and used it to increase his own. It must have exhausted him terribly." Touma groaned and started to push himself away from Xiu. "Let me look at him"

Seiji drew Ryou in closer to him and glared at Touma for a minute. He was reluctant to give Ryou up, but Shin knew Touma could help. They'd all seen Touma and his life. They all knew Touma knew about injuries and how to best treat them. He'd had some kind of training by a very large man and Shin almost thought it was training in some kind of military. Shin knew he'd feel much the same as Seiji did if it had been Touma or Xiu who'd been hurt so badly.

"I'll give him right back." Touma promised, very seriously. HE LET ME LOOK IN HIS MIND SO HE COULD GET A LOOK AT ME, Touma told Shin and Xiu. HE JUST WANTED TO KNOW THAT I WOULDN'T HURT HIM.

Seiji must have been satisfied with what he saw in Touma's mind because he gave up Ryou without any further delay. Laying Ryou down between the two of them, Seiji sat back and let Touma take a closer look. I'M A HEALER, Seiji told all of them, opening his mind slightly. BUT I CAN'T HEAL HIM. HE'S NOT HURT, JUST TIRED.

"I think you're right." Touma answered, peeling back one of Ryou's eyelids to get a look at the eye.

While that was going on, Shin leaned closer into Xiu, finding comfort there. Touma didn't look well, though he'd managed to get through the battle without getting too bloody. Touma slipped off his tall, conical helmet with the two horns on either side, and set it down beside him. His hair was matted with sweat and his skin was white. Shin could feel through their link that Touma was very close to falling asleep on the spot.

Xiu took the cue from Touma and reached up to take off his own helmet. For the first time, it seemed heavy, though Shin knew the helmets and yoroi weighed next to nothing. Xiu grunted and strained to lift the helmet off and put it down with a sign of relief. Shin could see dark circles under Xiu's eyes and how pale, he was like Touma.

"I'm so tired." Xiu confessed, looking down at Shin. "I just want to roll over and die on the spot." Xiu ran his fingers though Shin's hair and Shin cuddled into Xiu's side, half-burying his face in Xiu's neck. It felt so natural to do it that Shin didn't even think about it.  
Only then did Shin look at what the Ma-Sho were doing. They hadn't stopped their search for...whatever it was they were looking for. Though Shin couldn't feel them like he could his friends, just looking at them told Shin that they were as badly off as Xiu, Touma, and Seiji.

The three Ma-Sho were still wearing all their yoroi, now dusty and filthy with the grime of battle. Anubisu's bright red cape was tattered and hanging in shreds, Naaza had lost several of his swords, and Rajura's gauntlets were missing. Silently, the Ma-Sho struggled with the huge stone blocks, almost zombie-like in their efforts. A kind of sadness had settled over all of them, but they showed no signs of stopping. Not one of them attempted any of their amazing sure-kill's to clear the rubble. They worked carefully and slowly.

Rajura, the smallest of the Ma-Sho, stumbled once under the burden of one of the stones, but got back up again and went for another block. Still, not a single word was uttered. At least, not out loud. They could be mind-speaking for all Shin knew.

Shin watched them for the longest time, wishing there was something he could do to help someone. Touma and Seiji had decided that there was nothing to do for Ryou, but to let him sleep himself out and Xiu was determined not to move an inch. Shin wanted to help the Ma-Sho, but he really didn't know what he could do. He wasn't as strong as they were and he didn't even know what they were looking for.

Naaza broke down, suddenly, falling to leaned on one of the stone piles he'd already searched through. "I have to find him." He wasn't crying. He, like the rest of them, seemed tired and numb, but the despair in his voice was heart-breaking.

Shin pushed away from Xiu and pulled himself to his feet. "What?" he asked, making his way to Naaza. The other Ma-Sho hadn't stopped their digging, but Shin was certain they were in contact with Naaza through their own mental link.

Naaza lowered his head and said in anguish, "I won't leave Sh'ten buried under Arago's damned palace!"

_Oh, God!_ Shin felt terrible. _How could I have forgotten?_ He'd managed to get through the battle without losing anyone close to him, but the Ma-Sho had lost their leader, someone they'd been bonded to for hundreds of years. Naaza had had to survive Sh'ten death, not once, but twice. Once at the actual death and now losing him this second time. If Shin lost one of his friends he didn't know what he'd do. It would be like cutting out a part of his heart.

"Let me help." Shin offered, knowing perfectly well that there was almost nothing he could do. Naaza looked at Shin with pink-tinted tears in his eyes, and nodded slightly. Shin started to work on the smaller stones, knowing that anything he did was better than nothing. Soon, Shin was aware of Xiu standing and coming to work next to him.

I THOUGHT YOU WERE TIRED? Shin asked, though he didn't pause when Xiu began lifting stone that was far too heavy for Shin to manage.

I'LL BE FINE. Xiu looked at Shin and gave him a soft smile. THIS IS MORE IMPORTANT.

They found Sh'ten eventually, after moving more than three tons of stone. Sh'ten's body had managed to get out of the palace with the rest of them, before Ryou had taken their power to make that super yoroi, or whatever it was, but it hadn't woken up afterwards and a large wall had fallen down upon it.

Sh'ten's body was no longer the frozen perfection it had been left at the moment of his death. His corpse had been mangled, leaving it a bloody parody of what the human body should look like. As gently as he could, Anubisu lifted Sh'ten's body out of the rubble and carried it to a clear spot near where Ryou had been resting.

Shin slipped an arm around Naaza who was quietly crying, but Naaza shrugged him off roughly. "Leave me alone!"

Shin said nothing, at first, but put his arm around Naaza again. "You don't need to be alone."

"I'm NOT alone! I have them." Naaza snapped, irritably gesturing to Rajura and Anubisu who were watching him carefully.

"I know. I just wanted you to remember that." Shin walked away from Naaza and back towards his friends. Touma met him there and hugged him, needing a touch of reassurance in all this mess.

Naaza stared after Shin, but didn't fight when Rajura pulled him into a hug. "I will create a beautiful resting place for him." Rajura promised. "A tree in full bloom and a field of flowers. A bright blue sky and larks singing will mark his resting place."

**Ryou-**

Ryou woke with a pounding headache and an ache in his chest. Everything hurt. Ryou felt hands on him and the wonderfully familiar presence of his friends touching his mind. Seiji's was first in his mind, a protective, strong mind. His mind was shielded, as usual, but after they'd joined together so tightly, Seiji's shield wasn't as strong as it had been. Then came the others. They were all around him and, after a moment's thought, Ryou realized it was them who were touching his body and he relaxed into the caresses, knowing that he was perfectly safe.

Shin's voice came through the haze and Ryou struggled to focus on it. "Ryou? Ryou, are you alright?" Reaching out to touch Ryou's mind with his own reinforced Shin's voice and Ryou responded by returning the caress and reaching out to the others, as well.  
Seiji was terribly worried and opened his mind slightly to Ryou, letting him feel how glad Seiji was that he was finally waking up. Touma and Xiu were equally happy and Ryou knew Xiu, always emotional, was close to tears.

"What happened?" Ryou finally opened his eyes and found his four friends looking down at him. Over head, he could see the smoky reddish sky of the Youja-Kai and dust settling in the air. He couldn't seem to remember properly and everything he could remember seemed a bit fuzzy around the edges. It came crashing painfully back to him and Ryou sat bolt upright.

"MAMA!" He cried and looked around, even though his brain was desperately telling his body to lay back down, least he faint. He'd seen Mama Sh'ten walking and fighting! He'd seen it with his own two eyes!

No one said anything, and Ryou felt a wash of sadness from everyone. Touma looked away and Shin's eyes misted over with unshed tears. Xiu put his hands on Shin and Touma's shoulders, giving them his support and they leaned into him. Seiji showed nothing, just sat there and watched Ryou. Everyone moved slightly apart so Ryou could see behind them to where his big brothers were kneeling on the ground a short distance away. This time, no one was crying or having hysterics, but Ryou reached out and still, Mama Sh'ten's presence was missing. He was still dead.

Ryou tried to pushed himself to his feet, but he was feeling so weak. "Seiji?" Ryou reached out his hand and Seiji helped him to his feet without hesitation. Ryou gasped slightly when the pain hit him again and his head swam for a minute, but Seiji held Ryou tightly and didn't let him fall. Ryou staggered over to his brothers, leaning heavily on Seiji, while Rowen, Xiu, and Shin followed closely. They didn't seem willing to let him out of their sight.

Rajura had his arms wrapped around himself with his head bowed. Anubisu was shaking while he stroked Rajura's hair with his large hands. Naaza held mama Sh'ten's body on his lap and stared blankly ahead. Ryou could feel, as he knew his friends could, his brothers reaching out to find mama Sh'ten mind, as if they were waiting for him to wake again. There was nothing to find. Like trying to fish in a dead lake, there was simply nothing there to find.

Mama Sh'ten remained still and pale, though on his face he wore a smile as if he knew that he'd finally accomplished his mission, destroying the demon Arago, and was well pleased, even in death. He'd freed the ones he cared about the most. Ryou sagged slightly into Seiji and put his other arm around Seiji's waist. He wanted to cry, scream, throw up, and faint all at the same time. But...it didn't feel right. _I knew mama was dead. I knew...I knew we'd only find his body. But he was alive, I saw him walking and fighting. I felt his power when...what whatever that was happened. His power went into me, just like the others did. He was here._

WE'RE HERE FOR YOU. Ryou looked at Touma, who'd spoken in his mind. I KNOW IT HURTS, BUT...WELL...YOU CAN CRY IF YOU WANT TO. Touma sounded awkward and looked it right then. He still wasn't used to or comfortable sharing emotions like this. Shin and Xiu shared Touma's sentiment and Seiji put his arms tighter around Ryou.

Ryou smiled gratefully, but he'd done his grieving. Mama Sh'ten wouldn't want him to do anymore, Ryou was sure. Instead, he pushed back the tears and tried to focus on how happy he was that almost everyone had made it out of this thing alive.

Rajura was the first one of them to recover. He un-wrapped his arms from around himself and stood up shakily. "We should get you all home." Rajura stood up, keeping his face calm. He was in charge again. "There's business to take care of here and then we have to see that Kay's alright."

"What kind of business?" Xiu asked, coming to stand next to Seiji. "If the bad guy's been killed, what's left to do?" WE DON'T HAVE TO FIGHT AGAIN, DO WE? The thought was directed at Ryou, not at Rajura, who couldn't have heard Xiu's mind voice, anyway.

"What makes you think Arago's been killed?" Rajura asked darkly. "Arago is a demon and, therefore, not alive. Something that is not alive can not be killed."

Touma sounded tired when he said, "We went through all that for nothing?"

Shin's eyes grew wide when Rajura's meaning sunk in. "You...you mean he's still around here? We have to fight him again?" He sounded sick at the very thought and Touma put a hand on Shin's arm.

Ryou heard Touma thought the link, IT'S ALRIGHT, SHIN.

IT'S NOT ALRIGHT! I DON'T WANT TO FIGHT! Shin looked like he wanted to bolt, yet he held his ground. I JUST WANT TO GO HOME!

Rajura's answer calmed Shin quickly. "No, we won't have to fight Arago, at least not any time soon. He's lost most of his power in the battle with Kikoutei and he couldn't control one spirit, let alone the entire Youja-Kai. There's going to be a new Emperor and we've promised him our support ruling."

"Who?" Shin asked.

"Me." Everyone turned to see Kenbukyou standing nearby, exactly where he had been before. His army was nowhere to be seen, but Kenbukyou stood there as calmly as if nothing had happened. "I am next in the power line and therefore I will take over. It is my place." Kenbukyou raised one armored hand and pointed it to where Arago's palace had been.

For a moment, nothing happened. Slowly, though, the remains of Arago's palace faded away into nothing-ness, leaving a large empty field behind. A slow turn of Kenbukyou's hand, from down to up, and reality changed, again. The thing sprouted from the ground, like a giant animal poking its head up and then kept growing. It was a castle, they all realized after a minute. It was Kenbukyou's castle from the grasslands, now sitting proudly where Arago had once had his palace. When it was finished, Kenbukyou lowered his hand and admired his work.

"What about Saranbo?" Anubisu asked. The growth of the castle didn't seem to surprise him at all, but then, he'd lived here for so long, maybe he was used to this sort of thing. "He'll challenge your claim to the throne the minute your back is turned."

Kenbukyou only shrugged. "It is of no matter. Saranbo is a coward and should he chose to face me, I will smite him. With Arago gone, I can claim much of his power." Indeed, at his words, spirits that had formerly served Arago now floated out of the castle and bowed before Kenbukyou. Behind him, the gray skinned warriors who followed him, arrived.

The warriors lined up in formation before raising a fisted hand in salute to Kenbukyou. "I will have little difficulties with Saranbo." Again, Kenbukyou raised his hand. Everyone was suddenly in a room with nothing in it but a large stone block.

"This is the center room of my castle." Kenbukyou told them, walking to the stone block. "It will also be Sh'ten's resting place, if you will so honor me." Kenbukyou, so proud and arrogant, did something very unexpected. He bowed low, at the waist, to Rajura. "Without your aid and Sh'ten's sacrifice, I would never have been able to achieve this. I will be honored if you would allow my home to be his resting-place. There is no one would who desecrate his body in this place."

Rajura's eyes went distant for a minute, and Ryou knew he was talking to Anubisu and Naaza. When he came back to himself, Rajura nodded. "It is we who are honored." He looked around at the plain room and then the walls, ceiling and floor all vanished. They were replaced by a garden. A bright blue sky over head and lush green grass under their feet along with flowers of every shape and kind were in this illusion of Rajura's. There was even a tree with purple leaves where the stone block had been and it was under this that they lay Mama Sh'ten's body.

Anubisu stood next to Rajura, but Naaza sat on the illusion ground next to Sh'ten's ruined body. "Rajura?" Naaza ran his finger down the side of Sh'ten's bloodied face. "He hated it when people saw him… less than pretty."

Rajura nodded and instantly Sh'ten changed, returning to his natural beauty and Naaza almost smiled. "Thank you." Naaza didn't stand up, though. "I want to stay with him." Naaza lay his head on Sh'ten's, took Sh'ten's hand in his own, and sighed. "I want to stay here."

"Only for a little while, Naaza." Rajura waved his hand and all of them, were suddenly back in the plain stone chamber Kenbukyou had offered as Sh'ten's resting-place. Sh'ten was on the stone block, laid out just as Rajura had put him in the illusion. Naaza was sitting on the floor next to Sh'ten, his hand clasped around love's. His eyes were closed and he was barely breathing.

"Will he be alright?" Ryou asked, worried.

Rajura ran a hand through Naaza's messy green hair. "I don't know. Let's just give him a minute alone with Sh'ten, though. It might help."  
Kenbukyou, apparently impatient with the mortal niceties, said, "I will return with you to the Ningen-Sekai. I must look for someone."

Ryou got a strong feeling of unease and distrust from his friends when Kenbukyou said this. THIS GUY'S A DEMON, RIGHT? Touma asked. HE CAN'T COME TO OUR WORLD. THERE'S NO TELLING WHAT HE'D DO.

BUT HE HELPED FIGHT ARAGO. Shin said in the demon's defense, though even he didn't sound quite convinced. WE CAN'T JUST ASSUME HE'S AN EVIL CREATURE.

KENBUKYOU HELPED US TO HELP HIMSELF. THAT IS NOT AN INDICATOR OF KINDNESS, MERELY GOOD STRATEGY. Seiji added in.

I THINK WE SHOULD GIVE HIM A CHANCE. Everyone looked at Xiu, a little surprised by his attitude. WELL, Xiu defended himself, I JUST THINK THERE'S MORE TO HIM THAN MEETS THE EYE, THAT'S ALL. He seemed to be more than a little self-conscious about his choice, but didn't change his mind. Ryou got a brief image in his mind from Xiu of some guy with wavy white hair, but Xiu quickly squashed the image and blocked off that part of his mind. He was hiding something, but Ryou knew it wasn't anything that would hurt them.

"What do you want with the ningen's?" Anubisu asked, still at Sh'ten's side. "Why should they interest you? You don't gain power from them as Arago did."

"I don't have any interest in them, as a rule. But...that child, I do want to see her again." Kenbukyou's voice took on a kind of anxious tone, like that of a child sent into a candy shop with a pocket full of coins.

"What child?" Rajura asked and then his eyes widen in realization. "Kay? What do you want with her?" His voice lowered dangerously and both he and Anubisu tensed, ready to attack if the demon lord suggested anything...un-gentlemanly about their little sister. Ryou stiffened in Seiji's arms and reached for his sword, putting a hand on it, but not drawing it quite yet.

"Be at ease." Kenbukyou said, sensing their tension, probably. "My attention span isn't long and I will not wish to be emperor for eternity. Perhaps a couple of hundred years. After that, I will give the Youja-Kai over to someone else. That girl...she has potential."

"She's human." Ryou reminded Kenbukyou. "Not a demon. How can she become empress? She won't even live long enough for you to grow tired of being emperor."

"No one who comes to the Youja-Kai remains untouched by it's power. She will live a very long life, more than long enough to rule after me." Kenbukyou waved the comment aside. "As for her being a human, training can overcome that defect. She will, I believe, become a great empress one day." Kenbukyou raised a hand and the world changed around them, again. This time they were all, including Sh'ten's body and the stone block he had been laid on, on the top of the castle.

Kenbukyou strode over to the edge of the wall and looked down. As soon as he'd done this, a thunderous cheer rose up from below. Rajura couldn't help himself and went over to see what was going on. Below, standing on the still smoking battlefield, was Kenbukyou's army. Thousands of gray skinned people with their weapons raised over their heads and they cheered for their new emperor.

"All right." Rajura said reluctantly, not looking up from the people below. "You can see her, but she's not doing anything without our permission." He stepped closer to Kenbukyou. "Don't try to take her and think that I won't notice. My family has been hurt enough and I won't allow any more."

Kenbukyou's voice was amused. "You won't allow? You don't have the power to stand against me, Ma-Sho. Without the oni Ma-Sho, you can't bring forth the Kikoutei. How would you plan to fight me?"

"I don't know. But don't test me. Kay is precious and she's suffered enough. I won't have anyone hurting her." His voice made it very clear that he would back up his threat.

Slowly, Kenbukyou nodded.

**Elsewhere-**

A single bullet to the back of the head and grandfather Yagiyu died instantly. He crashed to the floor of his living room and his murderer watched his still body for just a moment to make sure he was dead. When she was certain the old man was dead, the murderer turned and coldly walked away.

"One down and two to go." She said happily.

**To be continued...**


	29. Don't Make Me Leave Him

**Chapter 29 :Don't make me leave him **

**At the Yagiyu mansion-**

Police Officer Xao didn't have to look away from the body on the floor. The old man hadn't been dead long since the death so there was no decomposition, yet, and he'd seen too many corpses to get upset by one dead old man. "A single shot to the back of the head," Xao told his partner.

"I don't understand. Why would anyone want to hurt Yagiyu-san?" Cong, the younger of the pair, asked while they began to search the room for any evidence they might have missed. "From what I've heard, he rarely left the property and was a nice guy. He gave to charity, raised his orphaned granddaughter... there was nothing wrong with him. He never did anything bad."

Xao smiled humorlessly. "You really don't know who he is? This is General Treize Kushranada's grandfather, on his mother's side. That orphaned girl is Kushranada's sister." He shook his head. "I pity the officer who has to tell Kushranada."

Cong paled and shuddered. "This is bad. Very bad. Kushranada has a lot of enemies, even people inside the alliance. You think one of them..." He nodded toward the body just a few feet away.

"I'd say it's pretty obvious. His enemies couldn't get to him, so they got to the old man. The whole world knew Yagiyu-san didn't have anyone out here but himself and the girl, Nasutei. No servants or guards or anything, even the girl, I'm told, went off to visit Kushranada for a few weeks. He was a sitting duck out here." Xao peeked out a window, wishing that the coroner would get here soon so he could go home. The place was creepy, all in half shadows. "Good thing she wasn't here, the poor girl might have gotten killed, too."

"This brings up a very unpleasant thought, you know." Cong leaned against the doorframe. "If general Kushranada decides one of his enemies is behind this, either there will be a discreet assassination or we could see the biggest war the Earth has ever seen."

"Yeah. He doesn't strike me as the type to take this sort of thing laying down. It could have been one of the colonies, I guess. They never thought too highly of him and this would have been simple enough for any one of them." Xao paused and a thought hit. "I'll bet money it was A0206."

"What?"

"You know, the one that was attacked by the OZ forces. I heard general Kushranada ordered the attack. It's only rumor, but it could be true. He's ruthless as a rattlesnake and they might have had something he wanted. An incredible Gundam, they're calling it Shen Long, saved the colony. I'll bet they were out for revenge. They attacked like cowards and kill a helpless old man."

Cong gave his partner a crooked grin. "How much you gonna bet?"

"Twenty bucks."

"Done." They both reached out and shook hands over the dead man's body. "If it was that colony, we'll be at wa.r"

"So what? That miserable little place is a decrepit pile of garbage. General Kushranada will crush them in about a second after he sends The Lightening Count to destroy that Gundam."

"You think Zechs Marques can do it?"

"Without breaking a sweat, I'd say. He's the best soldier general Kushranada has and the best pilot ever. If anyone's going to fight for general Kushranada, it'll be Zechs. Who called this into the station, anyway? No one comes out here but his family, and they're all on the other side of the country."

"It was anonymous. Some girl just called the station and said we might want to come out here. If we could find her, this whole mystery might be solved. The old man can't have been dead more than an hour or so. She was probably the killer, for all we know."

**A short distance away-**

"That was well done."

"Thank you, Badamon. I do my best." The girl grinned easily and looked briefly into her rearview mirror at the house vanishing in the distance. The police hadn't even seen her parked in behind the hedges and by now they'd know all about the murder. "Not difficult, really. For all his intelligence, the old man just didn't see it coming."

"And you are certain this will get us the results we desire? The death of one ningen can not possibly cause the amount of negative energy that I require."

"It all depends on how well-loved that particular person was. One of the most powerful girls on this planet loved that old man and her brother will do anything that he sees fit to protect his family. Trust me. This will be the greatest war this world or yours has ever seen." She shivered delightfully with the thought of all the blood that would be spilled soon, just because of one man. "You'll get your power and I will get the pleasure of watching it all." She began to laugh. "I've got Doctor J standing ready to release his weapons on the Earth, as well. He's made sure they're ready to fight, but he tells me that he has a new weapon, something greater even that his other creations. Some sort of program."

"These weapons are effective?"

"Doctor J has sent me the occasional updates as they are trained over the years. I saw Chang at a social event, once, and he most definitely had death in his eyes, he's a born killer. I saw Heero, once, while he was training, but Doctor J was always possessive of that one and kept him well hidden. Quatre, I'm actually related to. He's a cousin of mine and I understand this new weapon was designed specifically for him to use. I find it hard to believe Doctor J has created something greater than the original weapons, but I do look forward to seeing it."

She was alone in the car, but the voice spoke clearly in her mind. He was a long time... well, not friend. Ally might be a more appropriate word. For a long while the demon priest had been helping her in her plans, and she knew full well that he was gaining power in his own world as a result of her work on Earth. She knew that he was a demon and had even seen him occasionally, though this time he didn't seem to want to appear. Badamon was powerful and just what she needed to bring Treize to his knees.

_Yes,_ She thought to herself. _In a blaze of glory and a hail of bullets, Treize will fall and I... I will watch the destruction._

"Can you trust this Doctor J?" Badamon asked.

"No. Not really, but he is a genius. I pay him well enough that he will deliver the goods. There was a moment that I worried I would have to have him killed. He was going to desert me in favor of Une. Fortunately, Nasutei seems to be more ruthless than I'd believed. She killed Une for me and now Doctor J has no one with more money to tempt him away from me."

"You'll kill him once the weapons are activated, I suppose?"

"Oh, yes. Of course. He's too independent to allow to him to live."

"And what of the weapons?"

"I want to keep them. Just in case I need them to control order after the war. Yes, they'll be very loyal tools."

The demon's voice in her mind laughed. "You are truly ningen after my own heart, Dorothy."

**Youja-Kai-  
Rajura-**

Still standing on the top of Kenbukyou's newly formed castle Rajura took a last look over the wall, down to the masses of warriors below and the glorious landscape beyond. The warriors were cheering for their emperor, Kenbukyou. Kenbukyou really did look like an emperor. He was calm and strong, with his arms crossed over his chest and cloak waving in the gusting wind. The demon lord looked down on his cheering people silently. Unlike Arago, who kept himself hidden away, Kenbukyou was apparently planning to keep himself in full view of his people.

Rajura wouldn't miss the Youja Kai. He'd had enough of it to last the rest of his life. He sighed, straightened his back, then turned to walk back to his family. They were all clustered together far from the edge where Kenbukyou stood.

"Let's leave now." Rajura said. The youngsters had all recovered completely, save for occasional scrapes and bruises, and even Ryou was now able to stand on his own though he was still visibly shaken. Ryou kept staring at his feet and sat on the ground with his knees drawn up to his chest and one arm around Seiji. "Ryou, are you feeling all right?" He looked Ryou up and down, but couldn't see anything physically wrong.

"Sure." Ryou answered. "It was kind of weird to have that... whatever it was in control, but it's gone now. Right?" Ryou looked at Rajura imploringly, as if he would have all the answers.

Rajura swallowed hard at the look Ryou gave him. _I'm not that powerful, I don't know everything._ It hurt to think that Ryou trusted him so much, but Rajura knew his little brother was depending on him. Without Sh'ten, Rajura was sure they would never see Kikoutei again, so he had no hesitation in reassuring Ryou. "You're probably right. What was it like"

Ryou leaned into Seiji and turned a bit paler before wrapping his arm around his silent friend a bit tighter. "I don't know how to tell you. It was like having everyone inside me and that thing just sort of... exploded in my head. It felt like my brain was being squeezed for a minute, but then it just felt good. Very, very good." Ryou wouldn't look at him anymore and scowled at his lap.

"It's all right." Rajura patted Ryou's shaggy hair. "Don't think about it so hard." He didn't like how Ryou was taking this. Then again, Rajura supposed that he wouldn't like having another creature taking over his mind and body.

Rajura had never been more shocked than when he'd looked at Ryou near the end of the battle and saw the boy in his father's yoroi, the white Kikoutei. The last time he'd seen that yoroi was when that damned monk had stolen it, just before Rajura had been called to Arago's services.

"Ryou's going to be all right, isn't he?" Xiu asked. "That thing won't hurt him, will it?"

Rajura could only shrug, thinking how the five youngsters looked even younger now. Covered in ash and blood and dirt, they looked like the children they were instead of warriors they would one day be. "I don't really know. The only thing we can do is wait and see, I'm afraid. It time to go home, boys." Fifteen years old, they were only fifteen. When Rajura had been human, fifteen years old had been adult. These boys didn't look like adults, though. They looked tired and frightened. Fifteen was just a heartbeat in Rajura's long lifetime.

"Yeah. My mama will be worried sick. I never even told her I was leaving." This thought seemed to make Xiu even more depressed and he rubbed the back of his neck, absently. "I wonder how she and Lai are. Wufei's going to kill me when I get home, though. He'll skin me alive"  
Seiji said nothing, but he was thinking heavily and stayed near Ryou.

Shin had his arms at his sides and moved close enough to the edge that he could look down at the Youja Kai people still cheering for Kenbukyou. "I need to contact my sister. Cathy's going to be so worried, I've never been away from her for so long without calling. She and Trowa will need help with the act."

Touma looked into the sky. "I'll have to go back and apologize to Quatre. He doesn't like it when I just disappear like this, and after he was so badly hurt, too. I hope he's all right. I have to get back to school, too. I can't let my grades slip anymore."

Children. They were children who had no business in war. Time to take them home.

Ryou looked at Rajura, worried. "Where are we going to live now?"

Ah, now that's the big question.

Anubisu looked up at Rajura, too, but stayed near Naaza who was still deep asleep. WE CAN'T STAY HERE. I'M NOT GOING TO WORK FOR ANOTHER DEMON EMPEROR, I DON'T CARE HOW MUCH BETTER HE IS THAN ARAGO. I DON'T WANT TO TAKE THE CHANCE.

I KNOW. While not impossible, it would be difficult considering that they had no idea how the human world worked anymore or how to survive there without the benefit of a lord to serve.  
WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO BE NEAR THE BOYS, TOO. THEY'RE STILL ALL SO YOUNG, THEY NEED TRAINING, AND I DOUBT WE COULD CONVINCE THEM TO LIVE HERE WITH US.

Rajura gave Naaza a thoughtful look he stared into empty space, his face expressionless. How strange to think that Naaza was now the baby of the family. NAAZA?

But Naaza was still deep in the illusion Rajura had created, the garden they used to share private time in and where they'd left Sh'ten's body. Naaza didn't answer, didn't even make any effort to come back to them. His mind was completely submerged in the illusion, but the part of his mind that Rajura could touch was growing foggy and distant.

HE'S LOSING HIMSELF. Rajura told Anubisu, alarmed. I DON'T KNOW IF WE CAN BRING HIM BACK.

Anubisu picked up Naaza's smaller body with a worried expression on his face. WE HAVE TO GET HIM OUT OF HERE! WE CAN'T LOSE HIM, TOO. Anubisu tried to reach into Naaza's mind, but like Rajura, he could only see parts of Naaza. HE DOESN'T WANT TO COME BACK TO US. Anubisu felt like his heart was breaking.

A tremble of fear ran through both Rajura and Anubisu. DO YOU SUPPOSE SH'TEN WAS RIGHT ABOUT WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF ONE OF US DIED?

Sh'ten had once theorized that each of the Ma-Sho occupied a place in the other's minds. If one space was left vacant, it was like a void and whoever was closest to that void would be pulled in. If one was pulled in, that would only leave a greater void that would, inevitably pull in the other two. Basically, if one died, they'd all be lost.

WE'RE ALIVE NOW. HE WAS WRONG. Rajura said, determinedly. He'd never been so happy to have Sh'ten be wrong. WE'LL GET HIM AWAY FROM THIS PLACE. I'LL FORCE HIM OUT, IF I HAVE TO. Rajura gestured to all the boys to come closer. "We're going back to the Ningen Sekai. We'll find Kay and then return you all to your families, if that's what you want"

"Is Kenbukyou coming with us?" Touma asked, casting a look at the new emperor. "He said he wanted Kay for something, didn't he?"

Rajura shook his head. "He can come on his own. The gateway is all ready opened and we don't have anything here that we need. Our debt to him is paid and we owe him nothing. We may as well go." Rajura looked at Naaza. This wasn't going to be easy. Closing his eyes, Rajura found the illusion he'd created and he saw Naaza sitting next to Sh'ten under the tree with lavender leaves. Naaza looked like he was almost dead, except for the slow breaths he was taking.  
NAAZA, IT'S TIME TO GO. YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP NOW.

Naaza didn't answer. Rajura felt his little brother pushing his mind away the closer Rajura tried to get.

WAKE UP. THE CHILDREN ARE WAITING FOR US. WE'RE GOING TO THE NINGEN SEKAI AND IT'LL BE A LOT EASIER IF WE DON'T HAVE TO CARRY YOU.

Again, Naaza didn't answer and still tried to push Rajura's mind away. Rajura sighed. He'd hoped it wouldn't come to this, but if he had to... NAAZA, I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME. BRACE YOURSELF, I'M GOING TO SHATTER THE ILLUSION, WHETHER YOU WANT TO COME OUT OR NOT. Rajura did it quickly, severing Naaza's connection with the illusion, bringing Naaza out of the almost comatose state he'd been in.

Naaza woke with a painful gasp, like someone who'd been underwater for far to long getting their first taste of fresh air. Unfortunately, Naaza wasn't very happy to find himself awake and his large eyes focused on Rajura. "Let me go back!"

Rajura couldn't meet Naaza's eyes and turned slightly to the side, rather than look at him. "We have to go now."

"I'm not leaving him." Naaza's face twisted in a terrible grimace and his fists clenched at his sides. "I've all ready had to lose him twice, I want to stay with him now." His tongue was sliding in and out of his mouth on almost every word and Rajura was suddenly reminded that though Naaza was his dear little brother, he was also a very formidable warrior and a very deadly person.

"He's not there, Naaza." Rajura tried to make his voice as gentle as possible. "It's only his body. Sh'ten has moved on."

"We have to get Kay and make sure she's all right." Anubisu added in. "She was hurt when we send her off with Kokuen-Oh. We might need you to heal her."

Naaza was too clever to fall for that one. "Seiji has healing talents, and he won't cause her pain with his healing. You don't need me. Let me stay here!" Naaza jerked away from Anubisu, landing easily on his feet. He paid no attention to the children, but focused on Rajura and Anubisu. I WON'T LET YOU TAKE ME AWAY FROM HIM! Naaza cried at them, while Anubisu and Rajura started to close in on him. If they had to, they were willing to drag him kicking and screaming with them through the open gateway. I CAN'T LOSE HIM AGAIN! Naaza opened his mouth and his fangs showed, all ready dripping with venom and the light sheen of greenish liquid on his yoroi told Rajura that they were in trouble. That liquid was poison leaking from Naaza's body, natural poisons, that made their way through his yoroi.

"He's gone." Anubisu whispered soothingly, while wisely keeping a safe distance. "He wasn't really alive, it was just the yoroi, 'Za-chan. The yoroi came back to fight with us and it used his body."

Naaza struck out, attacking Anubisu, while screaming, "Don't call me that! Only Sh'ten calls me that!"

Anubisu struggled for a moment, but wasn't able to hold the maddened Naaza off. "Get off!"

Naaza leaned down and drops of venom, like sweat, dropped off his face and onto Anubisu.

Anubisu cried out, "'Jura!" when drops of the venom splattered on his face. They could all hear a soft hissing as it ate at the yoroi where their two bodies touched.

Naaza wrapped his hands around Anubisu's throat, throwing them both to the ground. They tumbled on the ground for a moment, and all the children jumped out of the way to avoid being caught in the fight. "You still have Rajura!" They stopped rolling with Naaza on top of Anubisu, holding him down easily. "I heard you thinking of that woman, too!" Venom dripped down and landed on Anubisu's unprotected cheek.

Rajura, who'd seemed stunned by Naaza's savage attack, leaped into the fray. He grabbed Naaza by the hair and pulled him roughly off Anubisu before throwing him away from everyone. "What the Hell do you think you're doing!" Rajura demanded, glaring at Naaza. The children were all staring and tense, ready to defend themselves, but still not entirely sure what was going on. "We're family, how can you do this?"

Naaza slowly rose to his feet and spoke with hate in his voice, turning his gaze from Rajura to Anubisu and then back again. "I heard you thinking about that woman, Noin. I've seen what you're thinking and feeling. You want her as much as Anubisu does, you're going to invite her into our family. You're going to replace Sh'ten with a ningen, a damned ningen woman!" Naaza launched himself at Rajura, his fangs fully bared and his eyes wild.

Naaza never connected with Rajura.

Shin had stepped out in front of Rajura and caught Naaza. Shin stumbled backwards slightly, but used his arms to pin Naaza's arms to his side. Naaza spit venom at Shin and Shin screamed when it hit his face, but didn't let go of Naaza. Shin's eyes rolled up into his head and he went limp almost instantly, falling into Naaza's arms.

It happened to fast for the other boys to help Shin. They watched in horror, afraid that they'd also lose one of their number.

Everyone froze, including Naaza. "Oh, no." Naaza held onto Shin and lowered the boy's body gently to the floor. Reality seemed to set in when he realized what he'd done. "I didn't mean it." Shin woke almost as quickly as he'd fallen and looked up at Naaza with misty eyes. "I didn't mean it." Naaza told him weakly.

"We have to go." Shin whispered. "I don't want to leave you behind. Please, don't leave us."

Naaza started to cry. "I can't leave him. He's everything to me."

"Does that mean that the others are nothing? Rajura? Naaza? Is Kay nothing to you?" Shin asked.

Naaza didn't answer Shin's question and didn't move when Xiu and Touma, each giving Naaza very filthy looks, came forward to take Shin back to Seiji. Shin seemed to be fighting off Naaza's venom remarkably fast, but Seiji's power would make him well in no time. DON'T MAKE ME LEAVE HIM. Naaza sobbed. PLEASE, DON'T MAKE ME LEAVE HIM.

WE HAVE TO GET KAY. Rajura repeated. SHE NEEDS US.

Naaza took a deep breath, stood up, and went to Anubisu. He took Anubisu's head in his hands and leaned forward. I'M SORRY. Anubisu held still as Naaza stepped in close enough that their chests were touching, and kissed the cheek that he'd burned. Anubisu closed his eyes while Naaza kissed his cheek; when Naaza pulled away, Anubisu was healed. There was only a faint trace of burns left from Naaza's healing. If nothing else, Naaza seemed more stable, but just as bleak. "Then let's go."

ARE WE GOING TO LOSE HIM? Anubisu asked quietly.

I HOPE NOT. Rajura replied. I HOPE NOT.

The others walked through the gateway Kenbukyou opened for them and Rajura was the last through. One last look behind him, at the world that had been his home for so many years, and his eyes landed on Kenbukyou. The new emperor was staring at him, or at least that's what Rajura thought with the demon's helmet and mask on.

"We will see each other again, Gen."

Rajura turned and walked away.

**Ningen Sekai-**

Seiji's home was empty when they arrived. Touma was the first one to speak. "Sei-chan, do you have a phone." Seiji pointed to a phone that hung on the wall where Touma immediately went and started dialing, muttering that he had to get a hold of Quatre and see how he was doing. The conversation apparently wasn't what he was expecting. "Rashid? Sorry I've been gone so long. What? No, I'm fine. I thought Quatre would have told you...no, I haven't heard from him." A pause when Touma's eyes got REAL big. "What do you mean he's missing!" Touma spluttered incoherently for a minute before stopping abruptly. "Wufei? Trowa? What the Hell is going on?"

That instantly got the attention of Xiu and Shin.

Meanwhile, Anubisu looked around and muttered, "Where are the cats? I told Kokuen-Oh to come back to Byakuen." Anubisu frowned as he stretched out his mind to reach the creatures he was so close to. "Kokuen-Oh is trying to keep Byakuen calm, but Byakuen isn't very happy."

They'd all expected Noin and the two cats, along with Heero, Duo, and Kay, to be at the house waiting for them. But the house was still and absolutely silent.

"Where is everyone?" Ryou asked as everyone took off their yoroi. Ryou was still shaky from the battle, but so worried about Duo that he started looking around. Naaza slunk away without a word to anyone, clearly not wanting to talk.

Touma hung up the phone slowly with a shocked expression on his face and turned to face Xiu and Shin. "I leave him alone for a little while and he gets himself kidnapped, again."

"Are you sure he was kidnapped?" Shin asked.

"Of course he was." Touma replied certainly. "He's not the type to just vanish. No one knows where he is and he hasn't called Rashid. Your cousin, Wufei," He looked at Xiu and then at Shin. "And your friend, Trowa, just ran out of my house and sped away on Wufei's motorcycle. Rashid has no clue about what's going on and he's not very happy with anyone at the moment."

"Well," Shin said reasonably. "One problem at a time, eh? We're here, so we'll find Seiji's sister first. Then we go look for Quatre, since he was injured. Wufei and Trowa were healthy and they left the house by their own choice, so we probably don't have to worry so much about them." He didn't look as confidant as he sounded, though.

Through all of it, Seiji was standing with his arms crossed and glaring at Rajura.

Rajura tried very hard to ignore Seiji, but that glare was quite penetrating. "Yes?" He finally said, irritably. The day was going downhill rather quickly.

Seiji looked at Anubisu briefly, then back at Rajura. "Are you going to have sex with my sister?"

Rajura, a very old fashioned gentleman, blushed to the roots of his hair and almost fainted. "W-what?"

"You are thinking about my sister, aren't you? That's what Naaza said. Exactly what are you thinking?" His lavender eye narrowed.

Rajura really hadn't thought about how Seiji would take this. "Well... you see... Anubisu and I..." Damn, he still hadn't decided what to do about all this, what was he supposed to tell Seiji?

"Do you want sex with my sister?" Seiji repeated, his tone deadly serious.

"Don't you have any tack!" Rajura snapped. The world surely hadn't changed so much in the past few hundred years that children went about openly talking about such things, had it?

"No." Seiji answered flatly.

"If you must know," Anubisu started to say, but stopped when Rajura kicked him in the shin. Anubisu rethought what he was going to say. "We will talk about this when we find Noin." He stepped passed Seiji without another word. HE'S GOING TO FIND OUT, YOU KNOW.  
WE'LL BURN THAT BRIDGE WHEN WE COME TO IT.

**Seiji-**

Seiji was prowling the house, his expression growing more and more dangerous when he found no sign of his sister. _I only just found her, I will NOT lose her again!_ Still, the place was empty and Luc was not the sort of person who just went out without word to anyone. Seiji knew for a fact that this was not a work day for her. _I'm not sure I even want Rajura and Anubisu to find her, though._ Seiji was having mixed emotions about those two. He found them both excellent warriors and good people, from what he knew, but still... he found the thought of them with his beloved sister just a little bit disturbing.

Touma caught up with Seiji outside the bathroom. "I can't find anything!" Touma said, annoyed. "You don't have to worry about your sister with those two. I get the feeling that she can take care of herself." Seiji gave Touma a cold look that plainly said he didn't want to talk about it. "Where would she have gone?" Touma asked, wisely changing the subject. "Does she have any friends she'd go to visit?"

Seiji didn't have to think long before saying, "Zechs and Treize."

Touma's eyes widened. "So that's why you two were at Treize's party that night." He realized, apparently thinking back to the night when he'd first met Seiji and Ryou. "She might have gone over to one of their houses."

So it was agreed. They'd all have another search through the house, just in case they'd missed anything the first time, and then head over to Treize's house. No one found anything, until Ryou shouted, "Hey, come here!"

It sounded like a stampede of demon steed when everyone raced from where they were to find Ryou standing in front of Noin's computer. The only person who didn't come running at Ryou's call was Naaza, but no one had really expected him to. Not with what he was saying about Noin back at Kenbukyou's castle.

_They can't have her!_ Seiji glowered. _I just got her, I won't let anyone take her away from me._

"What is all this?" Ryou pointed to the computer screen where a ball was bouncing aimlessly on the black background. Seiji, who'd been thoroughly trained in the most high tech computer studies, could have worked the computer easily, but it was Touma who took command.  
Touma didn't say a word as he sat at the computer and started tapping away at the keyboard, knowing exactly what he was doing.

**Touma-**

It was all fairly apparent. Noin had been doing research on some guy, J, and she's found his current location. She must have been in quite the hurry because she left the computer on and didn't bother to erase what she was looking for.

Touma didn't know exactly what the person had done, but whatever it was didn't look good. There was nothing illegal listed on any of the records or files that Noin's found, but there was quite a bit of suspicious behavior. Lots of money being thrown around and no reasons being given for all the spending. The man was constantly moving around, going from colony to colony and then, finally, down to Earth.

"Who is this guy?" Touma wondered aloud. He flipped from page to page on the screen, looking for information and ended up at the first one he'd found, the one that told where this J was living. Touma looked at Seiji over his shoulder, from whom Touma could feel a barely contained fear and anger. "Who is this, Seiji?"

Seiji was staring at the photo of J that was posted on the screen. "She went after him." He said shortly. "We have to find her, now"

"I'm glad we agree, Seiji."

Again, everyone turned at the sudden new voice. It was a man Touma recognized immediately. He'd seen this man at Treize's party, the same party that seemed to have started all this madness. It would have been hard to forget someone him. The man had long white hair and wore a silver bird mask that covered all of his face but his mouth. He was dressed very well and looked calm, despite the fact that Naaza was holding the man's arm tightly behind his back at what looked like a painful angle.

"I found this one lurking outside," Naaza said, shortly.

"Zechs," Seiji stepped forward and no one stopped him. It's his sister and his home, so it's his responsibility. "Where is my sister?" His normally flat tone was starting to break, and Touma noticed just then that Seiji's hands were balled into fists.

Yes, it would be Zechs who might know. Touma remembered seeing Noin and Zechs standing very closely together at the party and relayed this image to the others. Seiji held his ground, but everyone was anxious to hear what Zechs would say.

"I really don't know. I came here to find her. If you don't know where she is, then we have a problem. She sent a message to Treize earlier, but we didn't know until just a little while ago." Zechs sort of turned to look at Naaza from out of the corner of his eye, if he could see out of that thing, and said, "Do you mind? That's rather uncomfortable."

Naaza just twisted the man's arm harder, but, if it hurt him, Zechs didn't react. Even without his yoroi, Naaza was a very strong man and, Touma thought, quite insane. His actions after the battle proved that Naaza couldn't be trusted.

"Naaza." Rajura ordered in a soft voice. There was stillness for a horrible moment as everyone was waiting to see how Naaza would react to the gentle order. If it were anything like how he'd reacted to the last order from Rajura, they'd be lucky to get Zechs away from him alive.  
Naaza glared for a minute, but he let Zechs go before sulking away into a corner.

Touma was still angry with Naaza for hurting Shin. Granted, it had been an accident and he'd healed almost immediately afterwards, but Shin was so small... so fragile. Just because he was upset that Sh'ten had died.

DON'T BE SO HARSH.

Touma glanced away from Zechs, who was now rubbing his arm, and at Shin. For his part, Shin didn't look like he'd been hurt at all. There wasn't a mark on him at all. HE HURT YOU. Touma replied easily. I DON'T LIKE IT WHEN YOU GET HURT.

Shin sat on Touma's lap as if it were the most natural thing in the world to do, and put his arms around Touma's neck. IF I'D BEEN KILLED INSTEAD OF SH'TEN. WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Touma's mind blanked. Shin... dead? The thought was so inconceivable that Touma honestly started shaking just thinking about it. Dead? No. That wasn't going to happen. They were going to be together forever.

YOU DON'T KNOW THAT. Shin hugged Touma closer. NAAZA THOUGHT HE AND SH'TEN WOULD BE TOGETHER FOREVER, TOO. JUST GIVE HIM A LITTLE SYMPATHY. I'M NOT HURT, SO DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT. HE NEEDS TIME.

Xiu slapped a heavy hand down on Shin's head. SAY WHAT YOU LIKE, BUT IF HE HURTS YOU AGAIN, I'LL KILL HIM.

Shin laughed at this, mentally, but replied, HE WON'T HURT ME AGAIN.

HOW DO YOU KNOW? Touma asked, taking a quick look at Naaza, now glaring out a window at the dawn. HE'S NOT TO STABLE. Unfortunately, they'd all forgotten that Ryou could hear them.

Ryou turned furiously on Touma, nearly shouted, MY BROTHER ISN'T CRAZY! In their connected minds, Ryou's anger at them was blazing. YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT WAS LIKE! HOW DARE YOU SAY THINGS LIKE THAT ABOUT HIM, YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW HIM!

Xiu subtly moved in front of Touma, not threatening, but enough that he could guard Touma and Shin. Unfortunately, this made Ryou focus on Xiu.

AND DON'T YOU EVER THREATEN MY BROTHER AGAIN, XIU! I DON'T CARE HOW MUCH WE'RE CONNECTED OR WHATEVER THIS THING BETWEEN US IS, HE'S MY FAMILY! Ryou stood completely still, afraid that if he moved at all he wouldn't be able to stop himself.

Seiji broke away from his conversation with Zechs when he realized how furious Ryou was. Taking a step closer, Seiji whispered something to Ryou. Touma didn't know what was being said, but whatever it was calmed Ryou immensely.

_I wish I could do that._ Touma thought, envious of how easily Seiji could shield his mind from the others.

Ryou slowly backed away until he was next to Naaza at the wall, and Touma felt panic when Naaza raised a hand to Ryou. Ryou trustingly moved closer until Naaza's arm wrapped around Ryou in a one armed hug and Touma felt his heart start to beat again. 'Thank goodness'  
While Ryou seemed a bit more than a little hot tempered, Touma knew he'd hate to have anything happen to the little firebug. Touma was absolutely sure that he'd have hated Ryou if they'd met under different circumstances. If there had never been any yoroi or magical link between them, Touma would never had thought twice about Ryou. As things were, as irritating and as hot-tempered as Ryou was, Touma loved him almost as much as he loved Xiu and Shin.

_Love?_

Touma hugged Shin closer. He'd known Shin for a little while before falling in love with him, and Xiu for more than a year before he realized he loved him. Ryou, though? Touma shook his head, trying to clear it. Maybe all these battles were making him loose his mind just like Naaza.  
Still, watching Ryou with his head pressed up against Naaza's shoulder... Ryou with such a wild look to him and wonderfully bronze skin.

OF COURSE YOU LOVE HIM. SO DO I.

Touma looked up in surprise at Xiu, who was smirking down at him. WHAT? Touma blushed dark red.

I DON'T THINK THERE'S ANYTHING TO WORRY ABOUT. I'VE BEEN TALKING WITH RAJURA FOR THE LONGEST TIME, AND I THINK WE'RE GOING TO END UP LIKE HIM AND HIS BROTHERS. WE'RE KIND OF THE SAME, YOU KNOW? Xiu send a look at Seiji. HE'S HAVING THAT KIND OF EFFECT ON ME, TOO. I JUST LOVE THAT TALL, LEAN LOOK HE'S GOT. Xiu seemed to be accepting this better than any of them, taking it all very casually. I HOPE THIS DOESN'T GET CONFUSING. Shin said, looking between Ryou and Seiji. ARE WE GOING TO SHARE EACH OTHER, OR WHAT?

Touma almost fainted at that thought as it drifted across his mind creating several X-rated images.

_Share?_

**Seiji-**

RYOU, DON'T GET SO UPSET. Ryou looked at Seiji with that wonderful fire in his eyes. SHOW THEM. THEY DON'T KNOW NAAZA LIKE YOU DO, EVEN IF YOU TOLD THEM HE WAS THE MOST WONDERFUL PERSON IN THE UNIVERSE, THEY WOULDN'T BELIEVE YOU BECAUSE OF WHAT THEY SAW HIM DO. SHOW THEM YOU TRUST HIM.

Ryou didn't say anything, but reined in his anger, went over to Naaza and hugged his brother. There was no doubt in him at all and the others understood. They made such a cute group, Xiu, Touma, and Shin. All together like that with Shin on Touma's lap and Xiu standing slightly to the side. They're talking, but it wasn't Seiji's business, so he shut his mind to them and turn back to the main crisis.

"Zechs, do you have any idea where Luc might have gone. The only clue we have is what was left on her computer." Seiji motioned for Zechs to take a look at what Touma had uncovered.

Zechs examined the screen for a minute. "You know him, don't you?" Zechs didn't bother looking at Seiji, but everyone else did.

SEIJI, Shin said, looking at me with a confused expression. HOW WOULD YOU KNOW THAT GUY?

"I do." Seiji didn't bother to answer Shin. He would tell them later, in private. For right now, he doesn't need to know. It was bad enough that Ryou had seen the face on the computer.

"Noin was looking for the man who did this to you." Zechs said when Seiji didn't elaborate on my answer. He briefly looked up and gestured to the hidden side of Seiji's face and, for once, Seiji felt a flash of fear. He was hoping that it wasn't true. "She said she was going to catch him if it was the last thing she ever did." Zechs paused, and picked up a large stack of papers next to Luc's computers. "It would seem that she's found him."

_She... she found him._

"I think it would be best if we went back to Treize and had him analyze this information. With luck, we'll be able to find out what Noin found. She must have found an address, but she didn't write it down." Zechs started to flip through the papers. "There must be something in here that will lead us to where she's gone to."

_Gone? No, she can't be gone. I only just found her. Luc wouldn't leave me; she loves me._ Seiji swallowed hard, trying to remember his training to keep himself in control, but it didn't seem to be working. He felt like the lost child he'd been when he'd been taken from his family.

"It'll be okay." Seiji saw all his friends looking at him with concern, and it was Shin's who'd spoken and put a hand on his arm. "We'll find her."

**A short while later-**

By the time they'd reached Treize's house, the sun had long since risen, a fact that the Ma-Sho were taking delight in, except for Naaza who still seemed dazed. Both Rajura and Anubisu had once told them that the Youja Kai never changed. It was always twilight there and seasons were unheard of. So the simple pleasure of a sunrise was almost a miracle after so long.

They ran, as Zechs' car wasn't nearly big enough to fit all of them, with Zechs driving and leading the way. He'd been doubtful that they'd be able to keep up with the car, but Rajura had calmly assured him that he'd better drive fast if he didn't want to slow them down.

**Wufei-  
Quatre's Home-**

"I'll take the first shift." Trowa offered and Wufei accepted.

He lay down on Quatre's large bed. It was decided that they would take turns waiting for Quatre to either come back or call. They had one phone in the bedroom and there was one down stairs. Between them and the huge staff that seemed to work there, someone should get a message from Quatre relatively soon. Better yet, he'd just come back.

Quatre's bed was very soft, almost too soft. Wufei thought that he'd become too used to the bed he used at Auntie Fan's house. It was stiffer, almost hard, and such softness just didn't feel right.

"Wake me if there's any news."

Trowa simply nodded and sat in the chair next to the bed. His eyes closed, but Wufei could tell from the way he was breathing that Trowa wasn't going to sleep. He wouldn't go to sleep until Wufei relieve him of duty.

Wufei knew he'd need rest in order to solve all these problems. If Quatre returned with bad news, Wufei may not be getting any rest for a long time. He still had to find Xiu. That thought reminded him of something important.

Wufei sat up again and picked up the phone. Trowa cracked open an eye, giving him a puzzled look, but said nothing. The dial tone rang for almost four minutes and Wufei had to admit that he was getting worried. 'There's no reason for her to leave home.' Funny how he'd started to think of the restaurant as his home instead of A026. The phone rang three more times. 'Where is she'

Finally, Wufei gave up and hung up. _There's nothing wrong. She's probably just fast asleep. Poor auntie deserves all the rest she can get. There's no reason to worry, she not in danger. I should just get some sleep and worry about this in a few hours. _Again, Wufei lay down on Quatre's bed, still worrying.

What if something HAD happen?

What if his auntie had been hurt?

What if Lai was sick and auntie had to take her to the hospital?

What if Quatre wasn't going to come back?

What if Doctor J figured out that they were on to him, then he might have set a trap and already killed Quatre. In fact, he might try to kill all of them and start with fresh subjects, someone who was as innocent and naïve as Wufei had been in the beginning.

What if Xiu was dead, and that's why he hadn't come home? Sure he's tough, but it was so unlike him to just run off. He might have been killed and they just hadn't found him, yet.

"Relax." Trowa told Wufei. "Nothing will be solved by denying yourself sleep."

Knowing that Trowas was right, Wufei closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was late and he didn't have the energy to think anymore. If he wanted to be any good to anyone, Wufei would just have to get some rest.

_Meiran kicked and struck. She jumped and twisted. In a graceful dance, she worked her way through a kata in her family's garden as Wufei watched. She was small, but the power of every move was breathtaking. He couldn't concentrate on his book while she moved before him._

_"I love you." Wufei said, though his voice was barely a whisper._

_Meiran kept moving. Another strike, another twist._

_"I love you."_

_She turned and spun, then rolled._

_"Meiran? Can't you hear me? I love you."_

_"You idiot." Meiran turned to Wufei suddenly._

_Wufei stepped closer to her and the world around them faded away into black nothingness. She scowled, like she usually did when Wufei did something stupid. "When are you going to get over it?"_

_"Over it?" Wufei asked. "Over what?" He reached out to her, so happy to see her, but she moved further away without moving her feet. Wufei stepped closer, but she moved again._

_"Stop it." She said, firmly. "You're going to hurt yourself."_

_What was she talking about? He only wanted to hold her. Was that so strange? "I've missed you. Why won't you come to me?"_

_"Because it'll only hurt when you wake up." Tears formed in her eyes, which she hastily wiped away. "This is a dream. It's not real and I'm not here. I'm dead. You have to let me go."_

_"No." Wufei shook his head stubbornly. "I love you."_

_"I love you, too."_

_He tried again to reach her, but she kept moving away. "I told you not to do that. Don't you listen?" She snapped in irritation. "I'm dead. You're alive. I've moved on and now you have to, also."_

_It's not that simple! "I want to be with you, Meiran."_

_"Will my death be for nothing!" She shouted suddenly. "I died for you, Wufei! I gave up everything so you could live on and do great things. Don't you dare throw all that away! Don't you dare!"_

_There was suddenly a red haired man standing with them, dressed in old Japanese clothes and watching them with mild interest. "Have you finished yelling at him, yet?"_

_"No, not yet." Meiran answered him calmly before turning back to Wufei. "I know you like that girl, Wufei." It wasn't an accusation, but still Wufei felt guilt stab his chest._

_"Meiran... I... "_

_Meiran waved her hand. "Don't bother trying to lie. I know you can't do it. I'm not mad at you, fool! I'm happy you found someone good enough. Not as good as me, of course, but then, who is?" She stepped closer, still not letting Wufei touch her. "Nasutei is smart, beautiful, funny, and kind. You can't ask for more in a woman, no matter how picky you are." Her tone softened considerably. "Idiot. I want you to be happy more than anything else. She will make you happy. Don't throw her away just because you want to loyal to my memory."_

_"I love you." It was all he could say. He couldn't deny what she'd said._

_Meiran starts to grow faint. "I know. I love you, too, I always will. We just can't be together, now. She'll make you happy, and that will make me happy." Meiran turned to the red haired stranger. "I guess that's all I have to say. I don't feel so strong anymore. I think I have to leave."_

_"Where are you going?" Wufei asked._

_She smiled at him. "I don't know. I guess I'll find out when I get there." Then, Meiran was gone and Wufei was alone with the stranger._

_"What do you want?" Wufei asked angrily. He really don't want to talk to anyone, especially not figments of his imagination._

_"Your aunt is at the Kushranada mansion with your friend, Nasutei." The red haired man said shortly, his tone very arrogant. "Go there, if you want to find that little blonde friend of yours."_

_Wufei stared at him. "What's my aunt doing at Kushranada's mansion? How do you know about Quatre?"_

_The man sniffed. "I'm dead. I know lots of things." He paused a minute. "I'd take your wife's advice, if I were you. She's very wise for her age." Then he started to walk away, not fade as Meiran had._

_"Wait!" Wufei yelled. "Where are you going? Will you see Meiran?"_

_The stranger gave a short, bitter laugh. "No, I don't think I'm going where she's going. I have more business to see to now that I've finished with you. My own love needs a slap upside the head, that idiot. He's not taking my death well, I'm afraid, and I absolutely refuse to leave until I'm sure he's going to be all right. Besides," A wicked gleam sparkled in his eye for a minute and he smiled. "I have the feeling I'll be making one last appearance before my time is up. My brothers and you may need my help for one last pleasant task."_

Wufei woke sharply when Trowa touched his arm.

**Continued...**


	30. Junkyard

**Chapter 30: The Junkyard **

**Wufei-**

"Wufei, wake up." Trowa, wisely, hadn't touched Wufei while trying to wake him. Instead, he stood a pace away and just called out. The room was dark, but Trowa was lit from moonlight, casting strange shadows onto his long face. His placid expression was tense, his mouth held in a tight line and his eyebrows drawn together. "There's been no word from Quatre. It's almost dawn."

Wufei sat up and straightened his back. "My watch, then. You get some sleep." He thought of Merian and her advice, but pushed the thoughts away. There were other things to deal with. "I don't like this. He shouldn't have gone."

Trowa said nothing, but didn't disagree.

They tried to wait, to be patient and trust that Quatre would return. Their impatient waiting lasted until Rashid slipped into the room. He stood awkwardly in the doorway before asking, "Has there been word?"

Wufei felt a stab of guilt. "No, sir." He respected Rashid greatly. The man was strong and intelligent with a compassionate, gentle soul. It was a rare combination and it made Wufei feel ill that he couldn't tell Rashid anything. "He told you where he was going?"

Rashid looked affronted. "Quatre tells me everything. Have you heard anything from Touma"  
Wufei frowned. "Touma? Is he missing, too?" 'Fool! Utter fool! This is his home. He should be here. Why didn't I notice?'

"He left the other day." Rashid said, miserably. "Please, understand. Touma and Quatre are as dear as my own sons. I would give anything for them. I would die for them. If anything's happened... " Rashid shook his head hopelessly and left the room.

"We must not give him details," Trowa told Wufei, softly. "He would lose his head to go after Quatre."

"I agree," Wufei asked. "No good will come from upsetting him. I think we should go to the Kushranada mansion."

"Why?"

How to tell sensible Trowa that Wufei was following the advice of a rather irritating red-haired figment of his imagination? He couldn't. Wufei didn't entirely understand it, himself. "I just have a feeling. My auntie knows that I know Treize's sister, Nasutei, so she might have gone there to look for me. It was from Nasty that I got that tape that proved we'd been betrayed. Une was Treize's assistant. Also, Treize is our main objective. Doctor J might have sent Quatre to take on Treize alone."

"That would be bad." Trowa admitted, thoughtfully. "Quatre would not be able to do that mission alone. Even if he got in and managed to kill Treize, Quatre would have to deal with all loose ends and try to get passed the security."

_Loose ends. Quatre will be ordered to kill Nasty and auntie if he finds them there._ Wufei stood up. "We have to go. I'll give Rashid a communicator and he can let us know if there's any word from Quatre." Wufei felt cold. He didn't want to kill Quatre, but to defend his family he would. _Surely, he won't obey orders from doctor J after I showed him all the evidence of doctor J's betrayal._

They left after assuring Rashid and Abdul that they would contact them should they find Quatre or Trowa. The two men were exhausted and looked as if they hadn't slept in days. They accepted the boys promise, but didn't look happy about it.

"You know someone who lives there," Rashid said to Wufei. "You have a better chance than I do of getting passed the guards. If you have trouble, if they won't allow you in, call us. I will FORCE my way in, if necessary!"

Wufei and Trowa left the house and headed for Wufei's motorcycle. "We won't contact Rashid if we can't get in," Trowa said. "He is a good man, and strong, but making aggressive moves against General Kushranada is not a smart idea."

"Agreed."

**Kushranada's home-  
Heero-**

After arriving at the Kushranada home, Heero and Duo had been ushered into the parlor where Mama Fan fussed at them.

"Poor dears, you just sit and rest yourselves. Yes, that's right. Let's lay the girl down. Oh, don't you just look exhausted." She shook her head at Heero and frowned. "When did you last eat, child? All skin and bones!" Mama Fan left the room, leaving them with the two tigers and Treize Kushranada. There had been a young woman and a very small child when Heero and Duo had arrived, but she'd quickly taken the little child away for a nap when Mama Fan had asked her to.

Heero paid Kushranada little notice. He was too intent on obeying orders - orders from Mama Fan that he was grateful to have.

He didn't understand what was going on, but he understood orders and was glad when Mama Fan had sharply told him to sit and rest. It was a harmless order and didn't contradict any of doctor J's orders, so it was safe to obey.

As Heero sat and kept as still as he could, there was an increasingly pleasant smell filling the air and it was distracting Heero from his task. He wasn't sure what was being prepared in the kitchen, but hoped he was going to be allowed to eat. He didn't think he'd ever eaten anything that smelled like what was coming from the kitchen. Doctor J had been adamant on a diet of bland, nutritious meals saying that anything rich would spoil Heero's health.

Mama Fan was a wonderful bully and expertly ordered everyone around.

Heero liked her.

"Off the couch, you!" Mama Fan snapped when she bustled back into the parlor and found Kokuen-Oh with his front paws up on the back of the sofa so he could look down at Kay. "We don't need cat hair on all the furniture."

She had been afraid of the tigers, when they'd arrived. Heero was sure of it. He'd seen it on her face and heard it in her voice. The fear had vanished, but Heero wasn't sure when that had happened.

Duo, from where he sat on the floor, laughed at Kokuen-Oh's startled expression.  
Kokuen-Oh, however, didn't seem as confused as Heero about Mama Fan's authority and quickly did as he was told.

It was then that Heero turned his attention to Duo. Duo terrified him. It had been a long time since Heero had indulged in anything like fear. Something about Duo, however, frightened Heero. He was pouting. Duo's sour expression lifted for a moment when Kokuen-Oh rubbed up against him, but came back quickly. Duo didn't sit in a chair. Instead, he slouched moodily on a windowsill with his arms crossed over his chest. He'd been like that since he'd woken up and found out that his older brothers hadn't wanted him involved in the battle with the demon Arago.

Mama Fan briskly walked over and, before Duo knew what was happening, took him by the arm, pulled him to his feet and led him to a chair. "Sit and," She gently placed a bag of frozen peas on his head where Anubisu had hit him. Duo winced at the cold on his head and scowled up at her. "Hold that there."

Mama Fan turned to Heero, next, with an expression of concern. She smiled and fluffed a pillow before sticking it between Heero's back and the sofa. "You just stay sitting, dear. Dinner will be ready in a little while."

Heero just blinked up at her, wondering what she was talking about. He had no idea how to deal with Mama Fan. Never, in his entire life, with the exception of Seiji, had anyone ever taken time to see to his comfort. It wasn't necessary, of course, but Heero didn't object. Necessary or not, the pillow did make his sore back feel a bit better.

"We'll have to fatten you up." Mama Fan reached out and pinched cheek. For just an instant, Heero considered attacking, but there was nothing threatening about Mama Fan's manner. "Treize," Mama Fan turned to Kushranada, who'd been standing silently in the room the entire time. "Don't just stand there. Make yourself useful and get some clean clothes for the poor children."

Treize raised an eyebrow. "Madam, this is my house, I'm not used to taking orders."

She fixed a stern glare on him. "I beg your pardon, young man?"

Treize flinched, but still tried to assert himself. "I have servants to do that sort of thing."

"It's walking into the other room," Her eyes widened dramatically. "Are you too lazy to walk thirty feet?"

"I'm not lazy!" He protested. "I pay them to... "

"Stop arguing and get the clothes." She waved him aside and turned a gentle smile on Heero. "You must have gone through so much. Would you like a bath?" Without waiting for Heero's answer, she shouted over her shoulder at Treize. "Draw them a bath while you're out."

Treize, who had been sulkily on his way out the door, turned back with a very insulted expression. "Now, see here... "

"What did I tell you about arguing?" The steel was instantly back in her voice.

Treize muttered something vile under his breath, but did go to do as he was told.

"You're good at that." Nasty stood in the doorway Kushranada had vacated without the little girl. She a tall, handsome woman, Heero decided. Not beautiful, as he'd learned to understand the word. Her face was a little too round and her mouth too thin for her to be thought of as a beauty. But her nose was straight and narrow, her eyes bright. "Not many people can get away with talking to my brother like that."

"My dear," Mama Fan said with a hint of pride. "I raised a whole brood of children plus one very stubborn nephew. If I didn't know how to bully, I wouldn't be sane today." She took Nasty's arm. "Let's get some food for them, dear." She looked at Duo and Heero. "The doctor will be here soon. Just relax."

"I'm not hurt." Heero thought of doctor J, of the white lab coat and the whirling and grinding of gears as that metal hand reached closer.

Mama Fan gave him a steady look. "Just humor me, okay?" With that she left the room with Nasty in search of food.

The parlor was quiet until Duo started laughing. It wasn't a happy, light laugh, but rather something low and dark. It was... unnerving. "You don't have to like me." Duo stretched his long legs out before him, then arched his back as if he'd just woken from a long sleep. "Duo likes you, though. I like you, too."

Heero frowned, certain he was being mocked. "You are Duo."

Duo shook his head slowly and a grin spread across his face. "Duo's not available at the moment. Please, leave a message when you hear the beep. BEEP!" He started giggling again and jumped to his feet, almost hopping to the couch where he leaned over the back and looked down at Kay. "She was great, huh? She almost killed us all. I hope she tries, again."

Heero was a simple person. He didn't like it complications in his life. "Who are you?"

Duo never stopped smiling and reached down to brush a length of hair off Kay's cheek. "Wasn't she glorious? Simply marvelous the way she was cutting down the enemy like that."

"Her enemies were our allies," Heero reminded Duo.

Duo only shrugged, as though it didn't matter. "I think I'd like some of her power." He rested his chin on the back of the couch, shifting his eyes to Heero. "Would you like me to have more power?" Duo's voices seemed to shift down into a purr. "Would you like to see me strong?"

"What are you doing?" Heero felt a sudden cold sweat break out on the back of his neck. Duo was obviously sick.

Duo inched his head closer to Heero, still keeping his chin on the back of the couch. For a moment, Heero's brain flash-backed to Seiji telling him that he should decide from himself what to do about Duo. Seiji said kissing could feel nice, at least it had felt nice with Ryou. Heero stared at Duo's lips, curved upward in that strange way that said he knew a secret he wasn't going to tell. There was a knot in Heero's stomach and it tightened the closer that Duo came. Duo's lips really did look very tempting and made Heero feel... hungry.

"Duo's just a bit annoyed that he's being treated like a child. Can't say I blame him, we're going to miss all the bloodshed." Duo said. "He'll get over it in a minute. But now, while he's angry, I'm in control." Duo leaned in close enough that his face was inches away from Heero. "I like being in control, but Duo likes other people to be in control. The others don't know about me, not really."

"Others?" Heero could feel Duo's warm breath on his face and he went from a cold sweat to dead panic. He didn't understand. Maybe it was normal for Duo to act so strangely. Heero had so little experience with other people - how would he know what was normal?

"Our brothers. They think Duo's a great fighter, but it isn't Duo. It's me." Heero could smell Duo and see the tiny specks of green in Duo's eyes. "All these years they think they've been training him, but I was the one taking the lessons." Duo inched closer, so their noses touched at the tips and Heero felt a strangely pleasant tingle run from his nose down to his toes.

"I don't understand." Heero choked out the words; words came out slow and soft. He clenched one hand on the arm of the couch.

Duo raised a hand and put it to Heero's cheek. It was cool against Heero's warm skin and made Heero feel like he was burning. Duo moved his hand slowly, running his fingertips along the sharp angle of Heero's jaw to his ear, drawing one finger infuriatingly slowly around the edge of that ear until his hand wormed its way into Heero's thick, unruly hair. Duo leaned in closer, keeping his nose on Heero's but tilting his face lower until Heero could smell Duo's breath. Heero leaned back, intending to move away from Duo, but Duo just moved with him, half-way crawling over the back of the red couch. Duo's legs were now up on the back of the couch and he balanced above Heero with one hand next to Heero's hip, supporting his weight. Duo nearly had Heero laying down on the red couch and moved his other, soft hand on Heero's waist and...

A splash of cold water shocked them both. Duo leapt up and away from Heero.

Treize stood over them with an empty drinking glass in one hand, a bundle of clothes in the other, and a disapproving frown. "Separate before I turn the house on you. This is a respectable house." He was glaring not at Heero, but at Duo. "You shouldn't take advantage of the innocent."

Duo looked ready to attack him. "If you hadn't interfered, he wouldn't be so innocent. A kiss and a grope - is that too much to ask for?"

"Yes. Now, here are clean clothes. They won't fit, but it'll keep you decent until something more suitable can be arranged. The bath has been run." Again, Treize fixed Duo with a chilly look. "You WILL bathe separately."

Slowly, Heero sat up and watched Treize. Heero knew that Treize was to be his ultimate target. He'd recognized Treize Kushranada the moment he'd seen him, but he was still unsure what to do about it. His mission was to retrieve Seiji. He had no orders at all about Treize Kushranada, currently.

Four years previously, doctor J had shown Heero a photograph. He'd seen many other photographs of the same man many times since, all of them showing the same ginger haired man with the unhappy eyes.

_You will kill him. This is your purpose. He must die. You must kill him._

At the moment, carrying clothes for them that had likely been taken out of his own closet and telling Duo to take a bath, Treize didn't seem like anyone who needed to be killed. He smiled kindly when he looked down at Kay. As far as Heero could determine, Treize wasn't even wearing a weapon.

It didn't matter. Heero had his orders. When he was told to kill Kushranada, he would do it. Just as he would follow the orders to disrupt Alliance communications and destroy as many of their bases as possible. Treize was the target. He would die.

Duo grumpily took the clothes Kushranada had offered him and stomped off to a bathroom. Heero patted Kay's hair and wondered how long it would take doctor J to recall him to his cell. He hoped it would be a while. Mama Fan's cooking smelled very good.

It was no more than a half hour later, after Heero had taken his bath, that the doorbell rang. Kushranada stood from where he'd been sitting and moved to the door, but stopped and looked over his shoulder at Duo. "I'll only be gone for thirty seconds. Keep your hands to yourself." As he left the room, Heero heard him muttering about 'teenage hormones'.

From the hallway where Kushranada had gone, they heard the door open and a boisterous exclamation of, "DUDE! Treize, my man!"

Duo and Heero both looked up at the same time at the door Kushranada had left open.

"Doctor," Kushranada's sour voice answered, "I've told you many times, don't call me that. I am NOT your man. Get your lazy backside in here. Are you drunk?"

"Not yet." The stranger strolled carelessly into the room and smiled at Duo and Heero. He didn't look like a doctor. The man was very young, with an earring, a tattoo on his right hand, and pink spiked hair. To Heero's shock, the young man didn't wear a white coat, but a bright orange and green Hawaiian shirt and purple Bermuda shorts with flip-flop sandals. He looked at Duo, then at Heero. His smile was brilliant and genuine. "You guys look like shit."

Duo's eyebrows flew up when the man breezed into the room. "Who the Hell are you?" Duo's voice changing abruptly into a light, teasing voice. The Duo that Heero had gotten to know so well was back and the other, more forceful one was gone, much to Heero's relief. The other one was too unsettling.

"Doctor Butterfly at your service." The man grinned, showing off a gold tooth.

"Butterfly?" Duo asked, flatly.

"Yeah. My real name seems to make the patients nervous."

"What is your real name?"

"Blood Hellbringer."

Duo thought a minute. "Oh, I don't know. I sort of like it."

Doctor Butterfly sort of giggled as he made his way over to Duo. "Mom was doing some pretty weird stuff back in the day, if you know what I mean." Doctor Butterfly carefully parted Duo's hair to get a better look at the injury. "Never saw hair like this on a guy, gotta tell ya."

Heero wasn't sure what he should do. Doctor's should always be obeyed, that was one of his first commands, but this one... was he REALLY a doctor?

"Damn," Doctor Butterfly peered at Duo's head injury. "That's some egg you got." He poked at it several times, making Duo wince in pain.

"Knock it off!" Duo snapped. "That hurts, you jerk!" He aimed a fist at doctor Butterfly, but missed when doctor Butterfly easily stepped away, as if he was used to being attacked by his patients.

"You'll live, dude." Doctor Butterfly said before moving to Heero. "You don't look too bad, just a little banged up." He looked at Treize. "Dude, what you got mixed up in this time?" He gestured all around the parlor, especially at the two tigers. "This is some weird stuff. You finally lost your marbles?"

Treize twitched slightly. "No, they just sort of appeared. I'm doing my good deed for the day by seeing that they get looked after."

Doctor Butterfly snorted. "Yeah. I'm the tooth fairy, too."

"Get on with it. Are they healthy?"

"Yeah, yeah, they'll live." He looked suddenly serious and gave Kushranada a suddenly serious, hard look. "They've been in something serious. You aren't recruiting kids for the battlefield, are you?"

Kushranada looked appalled. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that."

Doctor Butterfly shrugged and smiled. "By their injuries, I'd say they've been a in a battle, even the little girl. Don't know where, but it was hand to hand combat, not guns or mobile suits." He started to bandage Kay's various injuries. "But she'll be fine after some rest."

He left shortly after that, when Kushranada handed him a handful of money with the whispered instructions, "I trust you'll be as discreet?"

"Duuuude!" Dr. Butterfly slapped Kushranada cheerfully on the shoulder. "You know you can trust me."

When he had left, driving away in his brilliant yellow car that had bright pink flowers painted all over it, Duo looked at Kushranada. "What flower child graveyard did you drag him out of?"

"He has his uses. He's very discrete."

Duo responded with a snort. "If I had to deal with that guy every time I got hurt, I'd be committing suicide."

Kushranada rolled his eyes. "You have no idea."

**Rajura-**

As predicted, none of them had any trouble keeping up with Zech's car.

They arrived at Treize's home late in the morning, with the sun almost directly overhead. Rajura thought that if Sh'ten had still been with them that he would have fallen in love with the car. It was sleek and smooth, a powerful roaring machine. Rajura marveled at it. He'd never dreamed that something like that could be built by mortals.

As they neared the house where Rajura remembered meeting the children for the first time, where Anubisu had called down a massive bolt of black lightening and nearly ruined the opulent home there came from behind them another roar, louder than Zech's car.

It was a far smaller machine with two riders and it wove it's way down the twisting road until it drew even with them. It was black with bits of shining metal here and there. It had only two wheels instead of the car's four and the riders rode one in front of the other.

Anubisu, who'd watched the approach along with Rajura, let out a feeling of sheer joy at the sight of it. He admired the power and speed of the machine along with the skill which the riders controlled it. He smiled when he met Rajura's eyes.

Naaza's murky humor didn't improve. His face was blank and Rajura could feel very little of through their link. Though Naaza ran as fast as the others and showed no sign of his former fury returning, Rajura was worried. Naaza was normally calm and always thoughtful, but this dark despair wasn't healthy. Naaza glanced at the two wheeled machine, then looked back to where he was running.

One who was not pleased by the sight of the amazing machine was Xiu. He groaned and flinched when the thing kept pace with their speed and the driver began shaking a furious fist at Xiu.

"My cousin, Wufei." Xiu shouted over the noise of the machines and the wind at Rajura's puzzled look. "He's gonna kill me!"

That could not be allowed. Rajura glanced at the motorcycle riders and dismissed them. They were both small and nothing more than mere humans. "Do not worry, I will kill him before he harms you."

"No, no!" Xiu protested, his eyes widening. "I don't mean he'll really… just forget it. You aren't allowed to hurt him!"

"Hey," Shin exclaimed, nearly glowing with happiness. "Trowa's with him. I can ask how Cathy is. They'll never going to believe what's been happening."

The machine's riders kept close all the way to a narrow dirt road where Zech's began slowing his car. They went slowly down the rude road until several uniformed guards crossed their path.

The guards looked suspiciously at the armored warriors as well as the two boys on the motorcycle, but they saluted Zechs smartly when they saw him and let everyone pass. Zechs stepped out of his car with an air of command. He spoke softly with the guards for only a moment before he got back into his car and they continued on their way unmolested.

Rajura recognized the house where they'd found the boys. It was in the process of being rebuilt. Anubisu had done an adequate job of destroying the house. Not perfect, as he'd left a good deal of it standing, but the roof had caved-in rather nicely.

I HAD FUN AT THAT PARTY. Anubisu said. His voice sounding gravely, but amused. LET'S GO TO HIS NEXT ONE.

Rajura caught of glimpse in Anubisu's mind of using his attack and shattering the roof and several walls. Rajura almost had to laugh when Anubisu recalled the looks on the faces of the people all around him.

I DON'T THINK HE'D INVITE YOU.

WHO NEEDS AN INVITATION? Anubisu's voice, both verbal and mental, was getting rougher. One would think that his mind would stay the same, even though the outside changes were becoming blatantly apparent. The hair that now reaches to the middle of his back is the most obvious change, but there are other, more subtle, changes as well.

There was little time for casual conversation once Zechs stopped his car in front of a small house near the ruined large one. The two wheeled machine stopped near the car and the riders jumped off, pulling them helmets off.

Wufei strode quickly to Xiu, Trowa went to Shin, and both demanded, "Where the Hell have you been?!"

There was a moment of babbling when not only Xiu and Shin, but also Ryou and Touma, tried to explain exactly where they had been. It was finally ended when Zechs opened the front door. "Shall we go in? I'm sure all this can wait until we're more comfortable." Zechs didn't bother to knock on the front door, showing everyone exactly how close he was to the owner. "Noin said she'd found 'him' the other day, but she wouldn't tell us anything else. She wouldn't even tell us whom, exactly, she found. I think she wanted personal revenge."

WHAT A WOMAN. Anubisu though with admiration. SHE'S SO STRONG FOR A MORTAL.

FOOLISH. Rajura responded, trying to hide the worry he felt. SHE SHOULD BE SMART INSTEAD OF STRONG AND KEPT HERSELF OUT OF TROUBLE.

The whole party followed Zechs into a large room only to find Duo sitting on the floor with his head lounging on Kokuen-Oh's side and Heero sitting next to Kay. It was getting to be quite the gathering.

Rajura had just opened his mouth to say something when a large, familiar woman walked through the door, carrying a tray of tea.

She took one look at Xiu and then one at Wufei and time froze. Xiu's mouth fell open at the sight of her and Wufei cringed, as if he knew what was to come. The woman threw the tea tray up in the air with a scream, "MY BABIES!" The tea tray crashed to the floor.

"Jeeze, mama!" Xiu winced at her scream and cringed away from her. "No need to yell."

Instantly, she was on him alternatively shaking her finger at him and hugging him. "Don't you sass me, boy! Where have you been all this time? I was worried sick. You, Freeze!" She rounded on Wufei who had apparently been trying to slink back out the door they'd come in through. "Don't you dare think you're getting away from me, young man! You up and left me just like Xiu did!"

"Mama, I had to go save the world." Xiu protested in a whine.

Ah, the power of women. A good woman can make the strongest of men dissolve into a puddle of mush.

Mama Fan fixed him with a glare that put Sh'ten's famous death glares to shame. "Don't give me that! I want the truth from you!" She grabbed him by the ear and gave him a yank.

"Ow! That hurts, mama!"

"It's supposed to! Chang Wufei, you come, too. You're not getting off that easy." Mama Fan stalked out pulling her son by his ear.

Wufei hung his head before pulling a gun out of his jacket and handing it to Trowa. "I don't think she needs any more weapons that necessary. Hold it for me, will you?" With that, and a properly guilty and doomed expression, Wufei obediently followed his aunt and Xiu into the kitchen.

Shin sighed happily. "It's so nice to see families reunited."

Duo stood up, the first movement he'd made since they'd come into the room. He looked absolutely furious, and Rajura wasn't entirely surprised. He would have been angry if he'd been in Duo's shoes. Duo's hands were clenched at his sides and he opened his mouth to say something when Ryou suddenly tackled him with a hug.

"I was so worried about you!" Ryou shouted when he threw his arms around Duo. "I never thought I'd see you again!" Ryou degenerated into tears. "You should have seen it, that huge demon thing, and there was so much fighting. I was so scared I thought I'd wet myself!"

Duo's anger faded quickly and his eyes calmed. "You always get so worked up. I'm fine." He gave a goofy smile and patted Ryou's hair. "And Byakuen is all better, see?" The next instant, Ryou was knocked to the floor by his white tiger friend and was having his face vigorously scrubbed with a sandpaper like tongue. "And Kay's fine." He looked at Rajura. "The doctor said she'll only need sleep, but she'll wake up in a little while."

"That's what I'm worried about," Rajura muttered. Duo's sudden attitude change was nothing new; he'd always had violent mood swings like that. The last thing Rajura wanted was for Kay to wake up in the same state of mind that she went to sleep in. "She may wake up just like... "

Kay looked so innocent asleep. Rajura went to her wanted badly to hurt Saranbo. She wouldn't likely forget what had happened to her - whatever torments Saranbo had put her through. Perhaps she would never play with dolls or laugh so freely as she once had.

_I couldn't help her._ Rajura sank onto the floor beside her. _All my power and I couldn't do a thing to help._

**Nasty-**

In her bedroom Nasty sat on the edge of her bed, with the curtains pulled closed to let Lai have her nap.

Nasty loved children and she couldn't wait to have a few of her own. Nasty smiled as Lai took a nap on her bed. Admittedly, she could hear Mama Fan in the kitchen yelling about something, but Nasty was sure that it was nothing terribly important. Mama Fan had let Nasty take care of little Lai, giving her a bath and dinner, while Mama tried to take care of the little girl, the two boys, and two tigers who'd suddenly appeared. Nasty was actually grateful that Mama Fan had let her baby-sit. Living alone with grandfather, while giving her a very happy childhood, had left her kind of in the dark about a lot of things. She'd never seen a baby before she'd met Mama Fan, except on TV.

"You're so beautiful." Nasty cooed, looking down at Lai. The tiny girl was absolutely beautiful with black curls and dark skin, like her mama and cousin.

Speak of the devil and he will come.

"Nasty."

Nasty looked up, surprised by the voice. "Wufei, what are you doing here?" Her heart started to beat a little faster.

Wufei came in a closed the door behind him. The room was almost dark, except for a small bedside lamp and it gave Wufei a wicked cast to his face. The thin boy came in and sat a respectable distance from her on her bed. "I was looking for a friend of mine. I was told that he'd be here, but I guess not."

"I hear Mama Fan yelling. What was that all about?"

Wufei ducked his head, embarrassed. "I accidently neglected to tell auntie where I was going that day I came here to get that video tape, about Une and doctor J. She was a bit worried and was letting me know how worried when she found me here." Wufei rubbed his backside. "I have no clue where she hides Bad Ass, but she has it everywhere."

Nasty couldn't help but giggle. "You got a spanking?"

"No, just a whack. Xiu, though... " He gave a slight grin. "He won't be able to sit for a week." They sat there in the dim light, quietly. "Thank you for helping auntie. I know she appreciates it." Wufei looked at Nasty from out of the corner of his eyes, shyly. "I'm glad you get along with her so well."

"Well, she kind of makes me think of what my mom might have been like. My mom died when I was very young, I really don't even remember her. Is your mom anything like her?"

Wufei looked sad and then glared at his lap. "My mother died about two years ago. Auntie Fan's been taking care of me since then." Nasty felt terrible for having brought up such a sensitive subject. "I'm so sorry, Wufei. I shouldn't have asked. I'm surprised to find you here, I wasn't expecting you to come by."

"I was looking for auntie and I sort of thought she might have come here looking for me." Wufei blushed in the half darkness. "I think I worried her a bit when I just took off the other day."

"Well, you deserve what you got, then." Nasty replied. "It's been a while since you came here for that video tape, where've you been since you left here, if you didn't go home?"

Wufei didn't look at her. "A friend's house."

"Did the tape do any good?" Nasty asked. "You never told me what you need it for."

Wufei said nothing, just kept glaring at his lap, his mind lost in whatever he was thinking. Nasty wanted to be able to make him talk. She knew something was bothering him, but she really didn't know how to help. In the end, she took his hand and they just sat together, watching Lai sleep.

**Anubisu-**

_When I find Saranbo, I think I'll gift wrap him and give him to Rajura._ That was the first though that entered Anubisu's head when he saw Rajura's hunched form over Kay.

Mother hen mode: activated.

Naaza had kept close to Shin, strangely enough. Even now, Naaza stood apart from Rajura and Anubisu, but had his arm around Shin. Anubisu knew without a doubt that Xiu, Touma, and Shin had a relationship of some sort, but that didn't seem to stop Shin from giving Naaza comfort. From their reactions to what Shin was doing, Xiu and Touma didn't seem to mind, either. It was like they were lending Shin to Naaza.

Perhaps, it wasn't so odd, after all, that Shin had gone to stand with Naaza. Since Sh'ten's death, Naaza had been teetering on the edge of insanity and he had been close enough to that, before. Shin seemed to lend Naaza a kind of strength and that made Anubisu both bitterly jealous and grateful. _I wish Naaza could find that from Rajura or me._ But he knew why Naaza didn't. Naaza was feeling betrayed and didn't want their help right now. _At least he's getting over the thoughts of suicide. _That was why Anubisu was grateful for Shin's presence. Anything that could save Naaza was a good thing.

Over all that was going on, Naaza raised his eyes and met Anubisu's gaze, cool as always. I STILL DON'T WANT A NINGEN IN THE FAMILY.

What could Anubisu say to that? He couldn't deny what he felt for Noin, especially not now that he knew Rajura felt the same way. I'M SORRY. I LOVE HER.

I KNOW AND I HATE HER FOR IT. Naaza's eyes narrowed. WHY SHOULD SOME NINGEN BE HAPPY WHEN SH'TEN IS GONE? THEY CAUSE NOTHING BUT PAIN AND YOU'LL BE HURT WHEN SHE DIES.

IF SHE DIES.

Naaza's eyes widened, surprised, when he realized what Anubisu was implying. ARE YOU SERIOUS?

Anubisu looked away. I WON'T DECIDE LIGHTLY. THIS SORT OF THING TAKE TIME TO MAKE A CORRECT JUDGEMENT.

Thankfully, Naaza doesn't pursue the subject. KAY'S GOING TO BE ALL RIGHT. I CAN FEEL IT. He said it in a way that was meant to be reassuring and Anubisu smiled at him. Naaza was rarely wrong when it comes to a person's health.

SHIN SEEMS TO HAVE TAKEN A SHINE TO YOU.

Naaza didn't answer, but Anubisu could sense his wonder at Shin's kindness and compassion along with his ability to think of Naaza as anything other than a snake. HOW ARE YOU FEELING?  
Anbusiu squirmed at the mental probe Naaza was giving him. I'LL SURVIVE, I SUPPOSE.  
IF I CAN, YOU CAN.

Somehow it comforted Anubisu to know that he wasn't alone in the changes and his's smile widened. As much as he love Rajura, Anubisu knew Rajura really didn't understand. Though Naaza's transformation was slower, he'd grown almost accustomed to the changes each year brought. If anyone knew sympathize it was Naaza.

Kay's eyes fluttered open and she stared at Rajura.

Everyone froze, praying that she was back with, instead of that killer they'd had to fight.

Very slowly, Kay looked around. "Where are we?"

Anubsiu let out a breath and knew that everyone else had done the same.

Kay tried to sit up, but there was pain written on her face, and it was no surprise. She was laced with injuries and probably wouldn't be able to move much for a few days without help. "I thought it was just a nightmare." Kay's eyes started to get watery. "I hurt all over." She looked at Naaza who was barely in her field of vision. Kay knew Naaza was a healer and doctor. He was always the one who made all the pain go away when she got hurt, so of course she looked to him for help, now.

Naaza instinctively stepped forward, but stopped himself. "I think Seiji ought to do this. She doesn't need more pain."

**Not long after-**

Anubisu was barely paying attention when Touma handed the disk to Treize and said, "We'd hope that, with the Alliance computers, you'd be able to find exactly where Noin had gone."

Duo's eyes snapped up suddenly, but it wasn't Noin's name that had attracted his attention. "Alliance? Did you say, Alliance? What's the Alliance?"

"How can you not know what the Alliance is?" Treize looked questioningly at Duo. "The Alliance governs the Earth and the colonies, it has for the past fifty years or so."

Duo bared his teeth, and a familiar madness coming back into his eyes. "You killed them."

"Killed who?" Treize asked. "I'm accused of it so often, lately." Though he said it lightly, everyone who had even the least bit of training could see that he'd automatically put himself in a defensive position. Zechs took a step toward the unexpectedly threatening situation, but he wasn't fast enough.

Duo lashed out, catching Treize in the jaw with his fist. "You killed them all!"

Ryou grabbed Duo and demanded, "What are you doing?" Ryou had always disliked fighting, even with his training, but his other three brothers didn't move to interfere staying, instead, at Kay's side. They knew better than anyone did how dangerous it was to interfere with family squabbles.

"Get off me." Duo snarled, pulling away from Ryou violently. "The Alliance destroyed our orphanage, Ryou. Sister Helen told me when she was dying." He turned teary eyes to Treize. "You killed her! She was practically my mother and you killed her!" Duo choked back a sob before continuing. "I was born on the damned doorstep and my mom was buried in the back yard. That was my home!"

Ryou stepped away from Duo, shocked. "He... he killed... "

"I saw them." Duo turned back to Treize. "I saw all the bodies. Dozens of children and Sister Helen, all burned up and half buried under the rubble. Why?" This was directed at Treize who stood still with a wide-eyed expression of shock, apparently not even noticing the blood dripping from the corner of his mouth where Duo had hit him. "Why'd you have to kill them? They never did anything wrong. Little kids and nuns."

Treize turned and walked stiffly out of the room without saying a word.

"You coward, you fucking coward!" Duo screamed at his back. "Come on, face me like a man! You murdered them! Don't you have the guts to look me in the eye!"

**Trowa-**

When Treize had left the room, Duo tried running after him. Tried until Zechs got in the way. "Leave him alone." Zechs ordered firmly.

"Get out of my way." Duo snarled. "I'll cut down anything in my way and that includes you, Birdman."

Zechs didn't move, not even when Duo raised a fist to punch him. The punch rang out loud and clear on Zechs' metal mask, as did Duo's grunt of pain. He should have taken a moment to think and he would have realized that punching metal would hurt.

Zechs swung a sidekick at Duo, but Duo easily jumped back to avoid it. They were at a stalemate and everyone watched tensely. "I won't let you hurt him." Zechs said calmly.

"I won't let you protect him." Duo replied. "If it takes me forever, I will kill him."

Rajura spoke up, "We need Treize alive. I can't let you kill him, Duo. Not yet."

"Why?" It clearly shocked Duo, that he wasn't allowed to kill.

Seiji was the one who answered. "I need my sister, Duo. If Treize can get her back, I need him to live."

**Treize-**

"General!" Master Sergeant Iram Baker's face broke into a broad grin when he saw Treize. "It's been a long time since your last visit, sir."

"Yes. I'm sorry I haven't been able to come by more often. How are things?" Treize spoke into the small computer screen that was now on his lap and was the only light in the darkness. "Excellently, sir. We're having lots of fun with all the training and Leslie set a new underwater swim record last week."

"Really? How far did she make it this time?" Treize was honestly curious. The soldiers of OZ were his people and he didn't care what the rest of the Alliance's army or the rest of the world thought about them. Treize took care of his people. Master Sergeant Baker was Treize's eyes and ears at the Lake Victoria Base. When Treize couldn't be there, he was the one who made sure everyone was doing what they should be doing.

"She made four laps, sir." Iram replied with a proud smile. He was an older man, more than ten years older than most of the OZ recruits and therefore had taken a fatherly interest in most of them.

"That's wonderful. Give her my congratulations."

"Will do, sir. She'll be happy to hear from you."

"Now, down to business. I have a little work for Lieutenant Gerald. Is he busy."

"No, he'll be honored that you want to speak with him, sir." Sergeant Baker, a large black man with his hair completely shaved off, to show off a tattoo that covered half his scalp, turned and yelled with his unnaturally high-pitched voice, "Ger, get over here, the boss is on the line!"

The boss. How cute.

Treize waited for just a few minutes before Gerald, a young man with a very thin face and very thick glasses appeared on the screen of my small, portable computer. "Hello, Lieutenant. How are things at Lake Victoria?"

"Fine, sir." He said brightly, showing off his braces. "I've just come in from practice and the sky is clear with a thirty percent chance of rain." It was one of Gerald's little quirks, that he always knew the chance of rain. No one knew why, Treize didn't think Gerald even knew why, but that didn't change the fact that he was the most incredible computer wizard Treize had ever met. Gerald had put on his application that he was nineteen, but Treize would have lay money down that the boy's no more than seventeen, at the very most. His face is even still covered with the nightmare of all teenagers: pimples.

"That's nice." Treize told him politely. "I have some information I need you to analyze." Treize held up the disk that Trowa had given him so Gerald could see it. "I'm going to feed it through on a secure line, no one is to see it but you. Understand?"

"Understood, sir. Um, just wait a minute." His face vanished from the screen, but I could hear him moving around and voices faintly in the background. After a few minutes, "Right." His face appeared again, now in what looked like one of the barracks. "I'm alone, sir. Send it through."

Treize put the disk into his computer and did exactly as Nasty had taught him. Without Nasty, he would have been completely lost when it comes to computers.

"I've got it, sir." Gerald said, his face getting serious. "What am I looking for, exactly, sir?"

"One of my officers is missing, Lieutenant, and I want her found."

The young man's face became instantly worried. "Missing? Who?" Then his eyes got even bigger. "Not Lieutenant Noin, sir? Everyone's been wondering where she was all this time. We haven't seen her for ages."

Treize shook his head, really not wanting to give away to much information. "Lieutenant Noin is spending time with her family, she's just met up with a long-lost brother. As I was saying, The officer in question had gone out looking for a man, approximately fifty-years-old with cybernetic implants, and she hasn't been seen since. He's known to be a highly dangerous individual with possible insanity. It's imperative to get her back as quickly as possible."

Lieutenant Gerald nodded sharply. "You know I'd do my best for any Ozzie, sir. I won't leave our officer out in the cold."

Ozzie. It was a nickname the troops have given themselves. Treize couldn't discourage it, really. It was good for moral for them to have something that links them together, even if it was a kind of derogatory nickname. "Yes, as I would expect any member of OZ to do." Treize replied. "All the clues that we have are on that file, but I'm afraid it isn't much."

"Don't worry, sir. I'll drag what you need out of here if it kills me." He told Treize seriously.

"How soon?"

He thought for just a moment. "Give me fifteen minutes, sir. I'll contact you as soon as I have anything."

And so it was that Treize was in the dark laundry room, sitting on the washing machine, with his tiny computer. There was no light in there, except for the little that snuck in through a tiny window. Treize had always found the room an excellent place to hide.

_It's not my fault._

_It's not my fault._

_It's not my fault._

Treize kicked off his long boots while he waited for Gerald. Those bloody boots, so terribly uncomfortable. _What I wouldn't give for a pair of sneakers._ It wouldn't do, though, for Treize to be seen in public wearing something as common as sneakers.

The laundry room, although kept immaculately clean by the maids, had never been used so Treize felt perfectly safe relaxing there. Leaning his head back to rest against the bare wall, he started to hum tunelessly. _I always wanted to be a singer._

Treize sang softly, fearful of someone hearing. The house was abnormally full of people lately and he didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to himself. While he sang, he remembered a day that seemed like a lifetime ago when his grandmother had caught him singing in the bathroom, using a hairbrush for a microphone.

"You are destined for greater things that prancing around in front of peasants, Treize!" His grandmother had snapped, tearing the hairbrush out of Treize's hands. "I won't have you wasting your life as some kind of rock star."

That had been the end of that little fantasy.

_Rock star, indeed. Bah! I want to be a country singer._

Not that it had mattered, his grandmother had been right in the end, predicting that Treize's life would be more meaningful that that of a singer.

After their parent's funeral, the same day, Nasty had been taken to live with Grandfather Yagiyu and Grandmother Kushranada had taken Treize to Lithuania, their father's homeland, where he had started his training in the political life - the most horrible years of his life.

Treize set down his still silent computer and began to strum his fingers across the strings of an imaginary guitar.

_Yeah, a big guitar in my hands with the lights shining on my band and I as the audience roared around us. I want a big white cowboy hat and a white jacket with rhinestones and white pants with fringe down the sides. Yeah... Zechs can play the drums and I'll have Noin with a fiddle. I think I'd grow my hair long, too, just like Zechs._

"I thought only Xiu did that."

Treize turned in horror at the unexpected voice.

Mrs. Fan stood in the doorway with a basket of laundry on her hip and looking at Treize with an amused smile.

Treize let his arms fall back to his sides and quickly jumped off the washing machine, managing to stub his toe when he landed. Treize cried out hopping around on one foot.

By that time, Mrs. Fan was laughing and Treize really couldn't blame her.

"Um... I'm not used to people using this room. The laundry service usually picks up the washing once a week, you really don't have to do that, Mrs. Fan."

She waved that comment aside. "Put your shoes on, young man, unless you want to hurt yourself again."

Treize quickly did as she said, just wanting to get away and try to forget that someone caught him acting like an incredible fool. "If you'll excuse me… " Treize tried to step passed Mrs. Fan, but she blocked his way with a friendly smile.

"You're fine, young man, just stay where you are till I load this one." It was a small room so Treize was forced to wait until she was finished. "I like having a bit of company when I'm working. It's just not the same without all my little ones."

"Little ones?"

"My children. I lost seven children on A0206, only two survived along with my nephew."

_It's not my fault._

_It's not my fault._

_It's not my fault._

"I'm so sorry." Treize told her, honestly.

Mrs. Fan smiled slightly. "Nonsense, young man. I'm sure you would have stopped it if you could have."

"They were my troops, my OZ," Treize explained. "Someone, a traitor, gave them orders in my name." It's the most he could offer. Treize knew very well that he couldn't even guarantee that it wouldn't happen again. He'd made it a rule never to make promises he couldn't keep.

"I believe you." She answered before turning a sly eye on Treize. "I'd like to know what's gotten you so upset, though."

"I don't know what you mean," Treize lied without hesitation. "I'm checking on some information to help find my friend, I just wanted some privacy."

"You're lying, dear." She informed him while pouring a cup of detergent into the wash. "I really don't think you hide in laundry rooms when you want to do a little research. You could have gone to your study. I know you have one, I just passed it and, I have to say, it's in need a good tidying. Now, why not try the truth. It's easier in the end."

"Not always."

"Oh?"

"Why are you doing the laundry, Mrs. Fan?" Treize had to change the subject before he said something he'd regret.

"Why did you run away from Duo?"

"You're worse than most diplomats I know, answering questions with questions." Treize managed not to react too badly that she'd heard what Duo had said. "You know what he said."

"Of course I know." She said calmly. "I was standing at the door when Duo started to yell."

"You never struck me as an eavesdropper."

She gave Treize a very prim look with a teasing smile. "Well, I never! Eavesdropping, indeed!"

Treize had to smile.

"There," She said, triumphantly. "A real smile. You ought to do it more, you know. You're quite a good-looking boy when you don't have that awful fake smile on. Now," She leaned against the now rumbling washing machine. "Tell me your problems, young man."

"I thought you didn't like me, Mrs. Fan. Why are you taking such an interest in me?"

"Whatever gave you the idea that I don't like you?" She looked honestly puzzled.

"Well, you do yell at me quite often."

"I yell at everyone when they need it. Why was Duo accusing you of killing?" She persisted.

"I really can't tell you. It's a very dangerous world I live in and I don't think you'd like to get involved."

"Let me make my own choices, young man. Besides, I know how to keep my mouth shut."

Treize really wanted to talk with someone and Mrs. Fan seemed to be a trustworthy woman. _Well, I can always have her killed later if she betrays me. _Now there was a disturbing thought. "Duo thinks I have more power than I do. He thinks I can control the whole world."

"Oh? I'd heard that you have quite a bit of power, too. Aren't the newspapers always saying that you control the Alliance?"

Treize laughed, bitterly. "No, Mrs. Fan. A house of twenty delegates controls the Alliance, and I am only one and the youngest of them all. What I am is the figurehead for the Alliance. You see, they need a pretty face to show the public. I'm young, good-looking, and people like me."

"Not to mention the fact that you're modest."

"That, too. Anyway, I look good on TV so they all got together and told the world that I was in charge. Not outright, of course, but in subtle ways they put across that message. I was the one who spoke to the public, I was the one who had all these little badges and metals strapped to my chest, and I was the one who took credit for everything, good or bad."

Mrs. Fan looked thoughtful. "I'd always presumed that you'd earned those metals in battles. You are a general, aren't you?"

"In name only. I'm only twenty-two. I haven't got time to be in wars with all the political work I've got. With all the metals they've given me to wear, you'd think I was a fifty-year-old veteran! I can fight, sure, but only very basic self-defense. If you want to see a real fighter, well, that's Zechs. He's the one who should be a general, not me." Treize sighed and felt like crying. He would have to ask Dr. Butterfly for more anti-depressants. Annoying as he the man was, he was rather useful. "I don't control all of the Alliance, as much as everyone would like to blame me for its evils. All I really control is OZ, but I'm doing what I can to make things better. I can't stop what the others do, yet, I simply don't have the power." Treize looked down at Mrs. Fan. For some reason, it seemed important that she believed in him. "I have to wait until my army is trained, but I will take down the Alliance."

"That's treachery, you know." She said flatly, though not disapprovingly.

"It's necessary. The Alliance won't change left on its own. They hate change; I've learned that much. All those old men with their old family money, they hate change more than anything and they'll do anything to avoid it. I have to force it." How ironic, Treize didn't have enough power to stop them, but he was the only one powerful enough to try.

Mrs. Fan's large hand touched Treize's face and he stepped away. "Don't be hard on yourself, young man. Are you sure you're doing the right thing? You're talking about war and that will get a lot of people killed. Think about it. This time you won't be able to say, 'it's their fault, not mine"

Treize met her eyes firmly - confidently. "Yes. I know what this means, but it is the right thing to do. It's because of the Alliance that your family was murdered. It's because of them that Duo is suffering so much. They're too corrupt to be allowed to continue as they are. I may be able to do it without bloodshed, but I'm not sure. I will try as hard as I can to make this a peaceful change."

Mrs. Fan nodded. "Then do what you think is right, that's what I always tell my children. Why don't you tell Duo what you just told me?"

"No, that would endanger my plans. No one can know what I'm up to." He smirked. "I shouldn't have said a word to you. I'm afraid you're a bad influence on me. I'm sorry. It's a danger to you as well as myself. I had no right to do that to you. If the Alliance suspects anything… well, better that you forget what I said."

She winked. "You're secret is safe with me so long as you're a good boy. Now, what about OZ? I've heard so much about what a great force it is and how it's the secret weapon of the Alliance. The whole world is terrified of OZ. They wouldn't give their military to a puppet, surely."

"Have you ever seen OZ in a real, actual, military action?"

She shook her head.

"That's because OZ is a threat and nothing more. The Alliance never really expected to use OZ. Secret weapon, my as... anyway. They make all that hype so no one will know that OZ is designed for the washouts that the Alliance doesn't want in it's pretty army. They hide the misfits in my OZ so no one will see them and the Alliance can tell the world that's where they send all their elite soldiers. In fact, the first time OZ was ever ordered into combat was at A0206, the attack of your family's colony. OZ is a dumping ground for the misfits and unwanted who aren't good enough for the 'real' army." Treize had to laugh when he thought of who he'd gotten out of the Alliance's waste pile. Zechs had been an emotional cripple with a split personality and he had ended up one of the greatest pilots ever seen. Then there was Noin who'd come to him an orphan and almost suicidal with depression and a guilt complex that rivaled my own. She'd ended up not only an excellent pilot, but also an inspiring teacher.

It was Treize's favorite task, looking though the lists of rejects he was sent and trying to envision what would become of the people who were given to him. The Alliance was the only military power in the world and has no enemies. Therefore, it likes its soldiers to look pretty more than anything else. Treize preferred actual skill.

"The Alliance will never know what it gave up when it gave me OZ, until it's to late. It's with the misfits that I'm going to destroy the Alliance." Treize looked at her seriously. "You can't tell, not even your family, that I told you all this. I can't have anyone endangered for this."

She slowly nodded. "All right, but I don't know how you're going to deal with Duo. He's out for blood."

"I'll deal with him like I deal with everyone." Treize let his face slip into its usual passive expression with a little smile. "With a mask."

Treize's computer beeped at him and he turned his attention to it immediately.

Treize walked by Mrs. Fan back to the parlor. Whether or not he wanted to face mister Maxwell, really wasn't the point. Everyone turned to look at him when they entered and Treize, out of habit, forced a smile. "Mrs. Fan, please take Kay to the kitchen. I'm sure you must be hungry, young lady."

The pretty child, with huge dark eyes, turned silently to Rajura.

Rajura nodded quietly and gave her a small, encouraging sort of smile.

Kay stood slowly, still dressed in soiled clothes she'd arrived in. She was tiny and delicate, like a little doll. At Rajura's permission, she stood and followed Mrs. Fan away to the kitchen where, Mrs. Fan promised, she could learn to make the Fan family secret tea.

Treize didn't quite know what to make of Rajura or his brothers. He had seen Anubisu's incredible power - the black lightening that had nearly destroyed his house - and he saw the respect they all paid to Rajura. Zechs had told him how they had easily run along side his car while going to Treize's home. He didn't understand, but decided that it really didn't matter. They would tell him or not. Either way, all he could do was accept it.

As soon as Mrs. Fan and Kay gone and the door swung shut behind them, Duo spat at Treize and plopped himself down on Heero's lap. He put his arms around Heero, even though Heero stiffened at the embrace, and contented himself with glaring at Treize.

Ryou was taking the whole situation much better than Duo was, but he ended up in a chair with his arms wrapped around himself and cast unfriendly looks at Treize. Seiji, Noin's quiet younger brother, was placidly comforting Ryou. He sat on the arm of the chair Ryou sat in and petted his hair and the back of his neck.

Heero watched Seiji and Ryou intently. Then, as cautiously as if he were about to touch a wild beast, he reached for Duo. Duo, though sitting on Heero, was paying no attention to him. He didn't see Heero's half-way frightened expression and he certainly didn't see Heero's hand inching closer to his braid. Heero's courage lasted only a moment before he put his hand back down on the arm of the chair without having so much as laid a finger on Duo.

Rather sad, in Treize's overly romantic opinion. Seiji and Heero's eyes met at one point, but Heero looked away, as if ashamed that he couldn't do what Seiji was doing so easily.

"What have you found?" Rajura asked briskly.

"My computer expert has found a clue," Treize said without preamble. "It's slim, but I think you should all hear it. The man Noin was following appears to be suspected of several illegal pastimes, involving human experimentation and mind-control. I don't have anything else, I'm afraid." Treize looked around the room, meeting the eyes of everyone present. "I have no idea where she might have vanished to. All my people could come up with were old addresses that have all ready been abandoned. Whoever this man is, he's very, very smart."

"Turn on the TV!" Nasty suddenly ran into the parlor and made a bee-line for the small television. Her face was pale and she was shaking. "You've gotta see this! I just saw Noin and Quatre!"

"WHAT?!" Several voices demanded at once.

Treize's attention sharpened at the mention of his cousin. Briefly, Treize glanced at Touma. He'd visited the boy not too long ago for an interview to get the boy into OZ. Normally, he wouldn't have been troubled with such a minor chore, but it had been a request from Quatre.

_"He wants to get into the Alliance," Quatre told Treize over the telephone. "I won't have it! He can do as he pleases, but I won't have him working for those people!"_

_"All right," Treize had answered, doubtfully. "I can understand that well enough. What do you want me to do about it?"_

_He could almost hear Quatre grinning, "Why, I want you to take him into OZ. He'll be happy. You'll get a brilliant mind to work with."_

_Treize, naturally, was suspicious. He liked Quatre, most everyone did, but he didn't trust the younger boy. "What's in this for you?"_

_"I'm hurt," Quatre sounded like he was pouting. "I just want the best for Touma."_

_"Really? Have you even told him that you and I are related?"_

_"No. That doesn't really matter, does it? Just come by and meet him. I promise you'll be impressed."_

Impressed, Treize had been. Still, from their puzzled expressions, none of Quatre's friends had known that Quatre even knew Treize.

Nasty squatted down in front of the television and switched it on. "Look! There!" She pointed at the television, a frazzled looking reporter stood on the street, biting her cheek.

"You saw it here, folks! I can't believe it, the police have been called, but this young mad man seems to have complete confidence in what he's doing."

The camera swiveled away from her face to down the street where the back of a young man could be seen just as he turned the corner. One couldn't see his face, but he was dressed in a tight fitting black outfit and had fluffy blonde hair "Quatre!" Touma, Trowa, and Treize exclaimed simultaneously. Both Touma and Trowa blinked at Treize, puzzled.

The reporter spoke again, "Several bystanders said they saw him shoot at a young woman, age approximately nineteen to twenty-one. He shot her once in the leg, but she kept running. We don't know who this young woman is or why she is being attacked. When confronted the boy, reportedly, shot and killed three police officers point blank without breaking stride. No one's managed to get a clear view of his face, yet, so we don't know who this is. Police advise, keep off the streets at all costs and do not confront this boy. More police have been called and they assure us this will be taken care of in the most efficient manner possible."

"He was chasing Noin," Nasty said certainly. "I saw her very clearly for just a second on the kitchen television."

"Kitty would never do that." Touma said in a disbelieving voice. "He... he's so gentle. He'd never hurt anyone and he'd rather die than kill innocent people. I... I just can't believe... "

Xiu put his arms around Touma. "I know. Quatre's a real gentle guy, but if that guy Noin was after was into mind-control, it's possible that Quatre doesn't know what he's doing."

"Yes," Rajura said, thoughtfully. "The mind is a delicate and powerful weapon. Any little change can affect it and for a ningen to mess around with the mind is very dangerous." He leaned back and stared into empty space. "When we retrieve Noin and this boy, we will have to see if permanent damage has been done to him or not."

Treize felt ill. The day was not improving as it moved along.

With everyone watching the television, Treize left the room to hunt for aspirin.

**Zero-**

Zero methodically searched the waste facility even as dawn approached. It had been searching for some time and knew that the enemy was near. There were no sounds by nearby traffic and no movements detectable with Quatre's eyes. Still, It searched, determined to kill the woman that was a threat to Quatre and Itself.

Zero's task was made easier by the fact that It had managed to shot Noin in the left thigh and she was now unable to move faster than an adrenaline inspired limp.

_She's clever._ Zero thought, more as an observation than a compliment. _She's injured and frightened, but not panicking._ Zero had rather expected to hear the clattering of garbage as she looked for a hiding place, but the yard remained quiet. _Perhaps she is all ready dead._ But that outcome was highly unlikely. She'd made it so far that Zero thought it unlikely she would give up.  
Images began flashing across It's mind, showing every possible outcome.

1. Noin manages to escape over a wall. Mission continues.  
2. Noin kills Zero. Mission failed.  
3. Zero kills Noin. Mission complete.  
4. A large blue tiger bursts through a wall and kills Zero. Mission failed.  
5. Quatre wakes up and takes control. Mission delayed.  
6. Noin finds a second exit and escapes that way. Mission continues.

The list went on and on, showing every outcome from the very likely to the absurd, but possible. Zero ran over the list several times before settling on the one with the most likely outcome.

It would wait until the woman lost more blood. With no medical aid for her injury, she would bleed into unconsciousness quickly and Zero wouldn't have to deal with her fighting back when It killed her.

**Noin-**

Noin huddled between a broken-down car and a wall nearly fifteen feet tall. She concentrating on being still. She held her hands over the wound in the back of her leg, but it just kept bleeding. In the end, she'd had to take off her shirt to staunch the bleeding. At least that seemed to be working and it didn't hurt so much, anymore.

_Damn, this wasn't supposed to happen._ Noin thought ruefully. _All I wanted to do was kill that guy. How was I supposed to know his pet psychopath was going to end up killing me._

That's no way to think. Defeatist talk would get you killed. At least, that's what Treize always said. _Wish I'd waited for Treize and Zechs._ Noin wondered, though, if her two friends would have lived this long, though. Treize, as smart as he was, was no fighter. Zechs, for all his skill, was too proud to run away when given the chance. No, maybe it was better this way. If she had to die, at least she wouldn't be dragging her family down into it, with her.

Noin closed her eyes for a minute, growing light-headed. _I can't faint. I'm dead if I faint._ Noin blinked several times to wake herself up, but felt the telltale signs that she was going to pass-out, whether she wanted to or not. Her head felt heavy and she felt like she was going to throw-up. _No! No! Who's going to take care of Seiji if I die? He doesn't have anyone else to look after him!_

Noin heard something behind her. The crunch of someone walking on glass, and the person behind her came just a bit closer. Noin held her gun tightly to her chest, ready to fire.

He stepped around the car and Noin met his cool eyes. He said nothing, but raised his gun.

**To be continued...**


	31. Transformation

**Chapter 31: Transformations **

**Rajura-**

The news clip lasted only a moment.

Nasutei-san reached out and turned the television off. There was silence that was just too good to last.

Sure enough, not two heartbeats later, the whole room seemed to burst with noise.

Kushranada-san sprang from where he'd been sitting to a machine on a table that he picked up and pushed some buttons on. His face had turned almost purple and his eyes were wide when he started speaking into the machine while Merquise-san spoke urgently to him.

Touma shouted at Kushranada-san about not letting the police shoot his poor brother. There was a distant whisper - the telling signal of the others mind-speaking - and Touma stopped shouting. He turned to face Seiji who was glaring at him. "Don't get on my case! I know she's your sister, but I won't let anyone hurt Kitty."

Seiji's frown deepened.

"No! Not even to protect her! You don't know him. He's… " Touma suddenly fell silent and started waving his arms at Seiji. It was the only indication of an argument between the two than their expressions.

Silently, Naaza slipped out of the room.

"I don't think you quite understand," Kushranada-san was speaking with deliberate, practiced calm. "I am ordering you not to kill the boy. You can keep your people out of it. I'm just about to send my troops in. No. Certainly not. You will not interfere." He made a waving motion at Merquise-san and hissed, "Get ready. I'm not letting the local police be responsible for Noin's life."

Duo, the apple of Rajura's eye, was still hatefully glaring at Kushranada-san and whispering to Ryou.

Heero was the only one who didn't seem to react. He watched the commotion with interest, but without getting involved.

Chang-san and Xiu were talking louder than anyone else in the room. Chang-san said, "You didn't tell me anything and your mother was so worried! You PROMISED you'd stay and take care of them!"

"Well, what about you? Mama said you ran off with some girl!" Xiu looked completely befuddled with that. "What girl? Why haven't I met her and what about Meiran?"

The temper was likely a family trait, Rajura decided.

"Meiran is perfectly fine with it!" Chang-san flared up, with a flush. "Besides, there's nothing between Nasutei and I."

"Oh, right. That's why you're blushing red as an apple, isn't it?" Xiu stopped short and frowned. "What do you mean, Meiran's fine with this? Are you feeling all right?"

"I'm fine! Don't patronize me and don't change the subject. You were supposed to stay with the family!"

"I had demons to fight!"

Rajura rubbed his temples and could feel his missing eye start to throb. It did that when he got upset, but he tried to stay calm. In Sh'ten's absence, the responsibility of staying calm during an emergency fell to Rajura - as much as he was unsuited for it.

Ryou and the two tigers quietly left the room with Duo, perhaps to talk about what had happened or, perhaps, to find Naaza. Anubisu looked around at the noisy mayhem just once before following Ryou and Duo.

_Fate just has to kick my ass every chance she gets, doesn't she?_ Rajura was getting a headache from all the noise and arguing and noise. _In the about the passed month we lose our youngest brothers, lose our little sister, have to sacrifice Sh'ten for our freedom, ally ourselves with a questionable demon, defeat another demon with help from the risen dead, and finally get our whole family together again and now this. Why can't anything be easy? When do we get a chance to rest?_

A wall fell in Anubisu's mind.

Pain. Confusion. Change. Terrible change.

"'Jura!"

Everyone in the room stopped talking when Duo screamed and ran back into the room. He went right to Rajura and took hold of his arm, plainly frightened. "Something's wrong! You gotta come!"

Only Kushranada-san stayed in the parlor on the telephone while Rajura led the charge to find out what had happened to Anubisu.

Just outside the door Anubisu leaned against a wall with his arms wrapped around himself, his face pinched in obvious pain. Anubisu's back heaved up and down, as if he were finding it hard to breathing. His head was lowered, making his hair hide his face.

Byakuen, strangely enough, also whined in pain. He lay on his side with his great head on Ryou's lap.

"What's happening to them?" Ryou stroked Byakuen's head. "It just happened. No warning at all."

Rajura reached out with his mind only to be pushed away by a strange feeling that was growing in Anubisu's mind. It was so radically different from what was normally in Anubisu's mind that Rajura was afraid for Anubisu. It was unlike anything he'd ever felt from his brother. This new feeling was like Anubisu's whole mind was changing.

Anubisu abruptly walled off his mind from the others.

Naaza put a hand on Anubisu's back. "Anubisu? Are you...?"

Anubisu reared back and swatted Naaza in the chest, sending him flying and crashing against a wall with a thud and a grunt.

Shin broke away from Touma's side and ran to Naaza, helping him to sit up. "Are you all right?" He quickly started searching Naaza's head for bumps or blood. Shin put his fingers in Naaza's hair, trying to feel if there was anything wrong.

Naaza brushed away Shin's helping hands. "I'm fine." Naaza shook his head slightly and looked a bit uncomfortable at how close Shin was, but didn't chase him off.

"Anubisu! What do you think you're... " Rajura stepped closer to Anubisu and then paused when he heard the deep, guttural growl from Anubisu. "Anubisu?"

Everyone tensed, even the boys who weren't so closely connected with Anubisu could tell something was wrong. Ryou looked up from Byakuen and Xiu, with his strong protective instinct, put himself slightly in front of Touma. Shin was still at Naaza's side, but watched Anubisu with growing fear on his face, his hand clenching Naaza's shoulder.

Slowly, Anubisu turned to face Rajura with short, jerking motions. Anubisu's hair was longer than it had been just minutes ago, and Rajura could see it growing, spreading as he watched. On Anubisu's arms it grew to be almost three inches long and not only blue, but now striped with a darker shade of blue. There was an odd snapping and popping as Anubisu's body changed in front of them. A tail, long and blue, burst through Anubisu's clothes even as his face shifted, pushing out into a muzzle.

It was a nightmare. The slow, steady transformation.

Byakuen seemed to be going through whatever Anubisu was, growling and whining in pain while he lay on the floor, jerking as if he were having convulsions. Byakuen roared at one point and rolled onto his back. His powerful legs lashed out and only Xiu's fast action, as he grabbed Ryou and pulled him out of the way, saved Ryou from being accidentally hurt by Byakuen.

Anubisu's body began to stretch and change with the sounds of popping and tearing as his bones reformed. Anubisu's eyes opened, showing a lucid moment. "It hurts, 'Jura, it hurts!" Anubisu's voice was mangled by his ever growing fangs and the way his mouth seemed to be changing into a muzzle.

Horrified, Rajura knew there was nothing he could do. He couldn't help. He couldn't stop the pain.  
Anubisu went down onto all fours. By the time he hit the floor, his hands were paws, covered in fur and savage claws. His back stretched and Anubisu threw back his head with a howl of agony and his ears moved, the bones shifting under his skin until they were nearly on the top of his head.  
The change to Anubisu's body was so great that his clothes ripped off, falling to the floor and showing off the other changes.

Rajura felt his stomach churn, watching.

It was surely the work of Byakuen's blood that Anubisu had drunk. Rajura could feel the wall around Anubisu's mind begin to weaken and through it he could feel the unspeakable pain Anubisu was suffering.

Anubisu stopped shaking with convulsions, but the changes continued. His face was covered in short blue fur and his nose and mouth were pushed out, resembling a muzzle more than a face and his ears pushed up on top of his head. His eyes were the same glorious blue, but that was the only thing that hadn't changed. Anubisu threw back his head again with another cry of pain. He grew and kept growing, changing until he resembled a blue version of Byakuen or Kokuen-Oh, and then… it was over.

Rajura swayed on his feet, but managed to stay upright. "A-Anubisu?"

The large cat looked at Naaza and then Rajura, his mouth opened in what looked like a cat grin. _It must have been the demon cat's blood._

I AM NOT A DEMON! Neko-Anubisu, growled and showed large teeth to Rajura.

It was reassuring that Anubisu had heard and answered. OF COURSE YOU'RE NOT, Rajura answered, delighted that Anubisu could still talk to him. Still, there was a difference in the sound of Anubisu's voice in Rajura's mind. For lack of a better word, Rajura thought that Anubisu tasted different.

Ryou cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention back to him and Byakuen, whom everyone had forgotten but Ryou.

Touma gasped and cursed.

Where Byakuen had been there was a man lay on the floor, slender and willowy, with a mane of long white hair strewn all over his nude body. The man looked around in confusion, his dark brown eyes a stark contrast to his almost albino white skin that was striped with black markings, and he pushed himself up onto his elbows.

Ryou was kneeling behind the stranger, a horrified look on his face. "What happened to Yaku-chan?!"

"A trade," Naaza stepped closer to examine the man. "Obviously, Anubisu and Byakuen had exchanged species - somehow."

Byakuen opened his mouth and apparently tried to speak, but nothing came out. His brow furrowed in distress and he raised a hand, putting it on Ryou's shoulder as he had so often as a tiger. Byakuen stared at his human hand with horror. He tried again to speak and this time managed a pitiful mewing sound.

HE CAN'T SPEAK, Anubisu told Rajura and Naaza. HE'S GOT THE BODY, BUT HE DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO USE IT.

Byakuen's feeble attempts to sit up and move were proof of what Anubisu said. Rajura couldn't help but notice that Byakuen, as a human, was quite beautiful, but not as muscular as Rajura might have expected. Frail, almost. ARE YOU ALL RIGHT? Rajura looked at Anubisu, worried.

JUST FINE, ONCE I GET USED TO IT. I'M SURE IF I TRIED TO SPEAK TIGER, RIGHT NOW, I WOULDN'T MAKE ANY SENSE, EITHER. THIS BODY IS EASIER TO USE THAN A HUMANS, THOUGH, SO I THINK I'LL BE FINE.

Kushranada-san walked into the hall and said, "The police have tracked them to a junk yard... " Kushranada-san paused when he saw the naked stranger on his floor and a new, blue tiger looking at him intently. "Um... Yes. Anyway, the police think they've gone into a junkyard on the other side of the city, but I've told them to do nothing."

Merquise-san grabbed his car keys. "We're taking my car, but it's only a two-seater."

"We'll run," Rajura said. They'd all ready proven that they could easily keep up with a car. Then he looked at Duo, Yuy-san, Chang-san, and Trowa-san. "You had best stay here."

"No," Trowa-san said firmly. "I am coming."

Chang-san nodded. "We all are. Quatre's a friend of ours, we won't leave him all alone."

Rajura had to roll his eyes at their stubbornness. "How do you intend to keep up with us? I seriously doubt you can run as fast as we can."

Chang-san allowed himself a little smile and pulled out a small black box with a large red button right in the center of it. "We've got rides."

"No!" Yuy-san blurted out, alarmed for some reason. He'd been silent until that moment, content to just watch what was happening without getting involved.

"Why not? I'm not following orders, anymore. I don't care what they see." Chang-san replied spitefully as he pushed the large button in the center of his small controller. "Nataku is mine - payment for their betrayal."

"Heavy Arms is mine. I owe nothing to people who do not keep their word." Trowa-san pulled out an identical controller to Chang-san and pushed his, also. "I will not endanger Quatre for the sake of those who would betray us. Do you still want to follow them?" Trowa-san looked at Yuy-san seriously and waited for an answer.

Yuy-san's face twisted in a grimace until Duo spoke up, beaming faithfully at Yuy-san. "Of course he's not gonna leave poor Quatre out to dry!" Duo said with an easy smile. "He's too smart for that. Aren't you, Heero?"

"I am?"

"Sure."

At this show of faith in his choice, Yuy-san took out his controller and pushed his button. Duo's faith in his decision seemed very important to Yuy-san.

There was a long moment of silent expectation. Rajura waited for a minute and opened his mouth to say something when a great rumbling shook the house.

"What the... ?" Merquise-san ran to a window to see what was happening. Merquise-san stared out the window and his mouth fell open as he saw what ever was making all the noise.

Chang-san smirked at the surprised reaction he got from everyone, though Trowa-san and Yuy-san just stood there and waited.

Kushranada-san just looked at the three boys and told no one what he was thinking. Kushranada-san, slightly more dignified than his masked friend, followed Merquise-san to the window and lost a tiny amount of his dignity at whatever he saw.

Rajura couldn't resist. He went to stand next to Merquise-san and his mouth, also, fell open. In the clear blue morning sky three massive... things... soared over the city, heading directly towards Kushranada-san's home. They flew in a triangle pattern, all together, with thunder announcing their approach.

"Giants!" Rajura said, horrified at the sight of such immense creatures flying toward the house. _Gods, I thought we'd done with such creatures when we left the Youja Kai!_

"No." Merquise-san corrected him grimly. "Gundams." He turned his masked face to the three boys. "You're the pilots."

**Heero-**

The Gundams landed outside of Kushranada's home and attracted far more attention that Heero liked. There were guards, immediately, and, more importantly, the leader of the Alliance himself who got a first hand look at them.

The only thing stopping Heero from opening fire on the crowd to protect his secret, as he should have done, was the fact that Duo looked so happy and Heero would have hated to spoil that smile.

Ryou paid very little attention to the Gundams. Instead, he kept looking back at Kushranada's home. Duo stopped Ryou's pacing at one point and told him not to worry, that Kokuen-Oh would protect Byakuen while they were gone.

"I know," Ryou told him. "I know. But… I hate leaving him like this." He started pacing around, again, until Seiji claimed him and took him to where Touma and Shin were waiting. He seemed to calm down with them.

Rajura strode out of the house while Wufei and Trowa were attempting to explain their Gundams to Xiu and Shin. He looked decidedly unhappy and Duo whispered, "He was talking to Kay. Wanted to make sure she was all right staying with Mama Fan. I guess it didn't go too well."

When Rajura went to speak quietly with Naaza, Duo turned his attention back to Wing Zero. "Where did you get this thing, Heero?"

"It was created for me to pilot. A scientist built it." He moved to go into the cockpit of the Gundam, but Duo grabbed his arm and stopped him again.

"I want one."

Heero gave him a puzzled look, but Duo continued, never taking his eyes off Heero's white Gundam. "Does it have a name? Something like this should have a name."

"Wing Zero. Why?"

Duo shook his head with a soft chuckle. "Wing Zero? What a dull name. I want one, Nezumi. Please, I REALLY want one."

Heero shook his head. "There are no more. Just four and they all have pilots."

Duo sighed, disappointed.

Heero could almost feel Duo's regret and he didn't like it. "You may ride in mine."

"Really?" Duo looked up with surprise.

Heero didn't looking at him, but nodded. "If you want to."

"Yea!" Duo shouted happily and Heero showed him how to climb up to the high cockpit, located in the chest of the metal giant. Together, they settled into the rather close conditions that fitting two into the cockpit meant. Duo was basically sitting on Heero's lap and never looked happier when Heero strapped them in together.

It was only a few minutes later when Duo started to beg.

"Please, Heero?"

"No."

"Please, Hee-chan?"

"No."

"Please, Koibito?"

"No."

"Please, Nezumi?"

"No."

"Please, Sweetie-pie, honey-cakes, baby-doll?"

"No."

Duo pouted. "You're no fun."

Heero tried to stay calm, even when Duo was being so illogical. "You are not trained to pilot a Gundam. You would kill us."

They were currently flying high over Kushranada's car and the inhuman people who could run so fast and now had alternated between running and jumping on the roof tops of sky scrapers. Just in front of Heero was Wufei in Shen Long, though Wufei called it Nataku, and Trowa with Heavy Arms. It was the first time Heero had seen either Gundam and he had to admit to being impressed with them. Not that they were as good as his Wing Zero, of course.

Wufei and Trowa seemed so sure that they were doing the right thing in letting Kushranada see the Gundams. Heero wasn't so confident. Wufei and Trowa had explained about the videotape that showed doctor J making arrangements to sell them to the Alliance and had even shown the tape to Heero. Still, doctor J was the master. He had to be obeyed.

To make matters more complicated; Heero was getting a VERY odd feeling every time Duo bounced on his lap. Every time Duo turned around to look at him, or moved at all, a terrible electric shock seemed to shoot from Heero's lap right to his brain and making him short circuit for a moment. It was making Heero doubt that he should be flying at all, the way his body was acting of it's own accord.

Now, understand, Heero was no naïve virgin. He knew how to procreate, doctor J had taught him all about that. Heero felt his stomach tighten at the thoughts of some of the stuff doctor J had made him do during his training and quickly brought his mind back to the present.

In all of his training, Heero had never gotten the kind of response he was getting from Duo just sitting on his lap. It was kind of like when Duo had tried to kiss him in the Youja Kai, and Heero had felt sick. Or when Duo had gotten so strange in Kushranada's parlor and had almost kissed him on the red sofa. It hadn't been so intense then. Perhaps it was because they were alone the feelings seemed so much enhanced.

"Please, let me fly. I promise I won't break it!" Duo continued pleading, twisting around on Heero's lap to look at him. "Come on. Don't you trust me?"

Heero batted Duo's absurdly long braid away from his face as he looked over Duo's shoulder to control the Gundam. "This is a unique weapon that I could destroy half of Earth. Why should I trust anyone with it?"

Duo smiled disarmingly. "Please? Just for a minute."

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please, Heero?"

"No."

"Please, Hee-chan?"

"No."

"Please, Koibito?"

"No."

"Please... "

And so the argument went on. Heero really couldn't say that he minded. Duo had a pleasant voice. Plus, every time Duo spoke, he turned around to look at Heero, making a bit of friction on Heero's lap. It really did feel quite nice, once Heero had gotten used to it.

**Still,** Heero thought. _I hope Duo doesn't notice._

**Duo-**

_Oh, my! Is that a sword in your pocket or are you happy to see me, Heero?_ Duo thought with a chuckle. Yes, Duo knew exactly what kind of effect he was having on Heero and he intended to continue until Heero burst. Hopefully.

Every time Duo turned around Heero would turn a darker shade of red, though he showed no other sign that anything was odd.

Duo wanted one of these great machines that Heero, Wufei, and Trowa had. It would make up for not having yoroi, like Ryou.

Yes, Duo was jealous, but not of Ryou. Duo was very happy that his brother had gotten such great power. It was those other four boys. Why should complete strangers get a telepathic link with Ryou when Duo was his brother?! It wasn't fair that those four other jerks suddenly were closer to Ryou than Duo could ever hope to be.

After all, it was Duo whom Ryou had confided in about his granma and the fire. It was Duo who'd held Ryou when he'd had nightmares. Duo who'd taught Ryou how to play pranks, and Duo who knew that Ryou was allergic to apples. Then, out of the blue, come these guys who knew, in a second, everything about Ryou. They were Ryou brothers! Where's the justice in that?

Jealously wasn't the reason Duo wanted one of these hulking giants, though. This just felt right, soaring above the clouds in such a powerful machine. Duo knew it was where he was meant to be. From the moment he'd seen the giants roaring overhead, Duo knew he had to have one.

"We're landing." Heero announced suddenly. "Hang on. We have to land a fair distance from the site. One Gundam alone needs a lot of space to land safely. Three takes much more space. Plus, we do not want to alert the target."

Duo couldn't help the sting of disappointment when he had to stop playing with Heero. It had been so much fun, too.

**Neko-'Nubie-**

Neko-'Nubie dashed into the city after the lingering scent of his prospective mate, Noin. It hung in the air like a wonderful perfume, enticing Neko-'Nubie to follow. Her scent was mixed with another scent and Neko-'Nubie was very upset about that.

He could hear the others, including his first mate, following behind at some distance. There were to many of them and they made too much noise, but Neko-'Nubie knew he would need their help.  
Distant noise caught Neko-'Nubie's attention and he ran, the scent of Noin getting stronger and stronger. She was close. Very lose. A scent of blood, like perfume in the air, showed Neko-'Nubie where to look.

He came to a high wall that separated him from Noin. Neko-'Nubie growled at the wall, offended that it would come between him and his desired mate. With an easy leap, Neko-'Nubie jumped over the ten foot high wall. Quatre was almost right under him when Neko-'Nubie cleared the wall and he was able to just fall, taking the boy by complete surprise. He tackled Quatre, knocking him easily to the ground, but Quatre didn't give up the fight and struggled even though he was obviously outmatched by the muscles of the tiger.

**Noin-**

Quatre had managed to hit her in the leg with one shot before the tiger pinned him down with its forepaws on Quatre's arms and baring its teeth at him. Her leg was throbbing and Quatre had gotten off a good shot at her head and she could feel blood seeping down the side of her face.

Noin knew Quatre wasn't to blame for anything. That loony doctor J had done something to him, screwed up Quatre's mind, somehow. She crawled over to Quatre, still pinned down by the blue tiger, and grabbed the gun in his hand, trying to wrestle it out of his determined grip.

All of Quatre's self control and his previous cold demeanor vanished very suddenly. "I won't let you hurt Quatre!" Quatre said, determinedly holding onto the gun. "I won't let you hurt him!"

"Let it go!" Noin shouted, fighting with his hand, but she just wasn't strong enough. Noin grabbed the first thing that came to hand, a large brick, and smashed it down on Quatre's hand.

Quatre didn't flinch. It was as if he couldn't feel the pain. Noin bashed Quatre's hand again, hoping to break either the gun or Quatre's hand, she'd settle for either one at this point.

The gun turned out to be very well made and Quatre's hand broke first.

With a horrible crack, most of the bones in Quatre's hand broke and he was unable to hold the gun anymore. Noin grabbed it as soon as it fell, but she knew the threat wasn't gone, yet.

"I'll kill you!" Quatre screamed insanely. "I'll kill you!"

Clunk!

Something hit Quatre in the head hard and fast, knocking him unconscious. Afraid that he might wake up, Noin just watched him for a minute. When he didn't move and the blue tiger stepped off him, Noin felt herself relax just enough to take a good look at the tiger. 'Must be one of Ryou's tiger friends. I didn't think he had any other than Byakuen.' Noin looked at its eyes and in that moment, she recognized them.

**Naaza-**

Rajura had thrown one of his nun-chucks at Quatre, hitting him expertly on the head. It was a perfect throw, naturally, and Rajura had made sure he wouldn't kill the boy.

Rajura and Anubisu's thoughts were intruding on Naaza's mind. They were thinking of how fragile Noin looked, yet how strong. She fought off her attacker and managed to stay alive though the boy was clearly possessed by some evil spirit.

The girl was bleeding heavily and Seiji was naturally the first one to her. They were all at her back and Naaza thought she was too busy looking at Anubisu to notice that anyone else was around. Seiji wrapped his arms around his sister.

Noin struggled, at first, probably thinking he was another attacker. When she realized who it was, though, Noin calmed and sagged against her little brother. "Oh, Sei-chan! You have no idea how glad... " Her voice faded away when she saw the same thing everyone else saw.

Anubisu was mewling with pain, again, and shaking with short jerky motions as he had when he'd turned into a cat. He took a few awkward steps, then stopped and rolled his eyes into his head, as if he couldn't control his own body. It only took a minute, perhaps, before Anubisu was back in his human body. He was clearly exhausted and quite naked as he panted for breath after collapsing on the ground.

"'Nubie!" Rajura cried, running to him.

Noin started at his voice and, for the first time, turned around and saw how many people had come to rescue her. She blinked, surprised at the sheer number of people. Rajura clothed Anubisu's decently with an illusion before picking him up and cradling him, gently. Anubisu was fast asleep before Rajura even stood up.

"He saved me," Noin whispered as Seiji put his hand on her head wound and began healing her. For a minute, she looked sleepy eyed, as if the healing were making her tired, but she stayed awake. When Seiji was finished with her head he began on her leg, his light green aura flaring into sight as he did.

Naaza looked at Noin, held securely in Seiji's arms, much like Rajura held Anubisu. She was looking at Anubisu, despite her injuries and fatigue, she still seemed to be thinking straight. _Maybe I can live with this,_ Naaza thought, seeing how Noin looked at Anubisu, not with fear or disgust, but in admiration. _At least she's not going to hurt Anubisu by thinking he's a monster._

He kept thinking on the new development as he went to Quatre to start his own examination and healing. The hand Noin had broken would need tending but Naaza was afraid the boy's mind would need the most care and for that, they would have to leave it to Rajura, if he was willing to help. There was no one who knew more about the ins and outs of the human mind than Rajura.

**Treize-**

"Are you all right?" Treize asked Noin, when Seiji had set her on the ground for healing her leg. Everything was getting very strange and if he knew Noin was going to be all right, Treize knew he could handle the situation. He just didn't want to think about new, mysterious Gundams. He also didn't want to think about were-tigers or illusions, or men who could run as fast as a car, or any magic of any kind. He needed facts to run his life, not magic. "What happened?" He especially didn't want to think about how Seiji was healing Noin so quickly with nothing but a green light that radiated from his body. Noin didn't seem surprised at what her brother was doing and Treize had to wonder what else the young man could do. He could be useful in OZ.

Noin looked ashamed of herself when she finally spoke after Seiji had finished healing her. "My only mistake was in underestimating my enemy. I was stupid. Quatre was affected by something called the Zero System. It's a computer program that's designed to take over a fighter and make them perfect."

Treize felt sickened at the thought. Machine made soldiers. Treize hated the thought of such a thing happening, to take away the nobility and honor soldiers valued and replace it with mobile dolls was bad enough. Now, they were taking away a person's humanity. Of all people, it had to be Quatre!

Noin looked slowly around at all the faces gathered around her and said severely, "I'm going to get him. That monster hurt my brother and he did the same thing to Heero and now this poor boy. I won't let him get away with it. He needs to be punished."

Treize, knowing that Noin would be fine, went to look at Quatre. Trowa and Touma were right beside him, checking the pulse and other life signs while Naaza seemed to massaging the boy's broken hand. Naaza rubbed the mangled hand slowly and carefully with a green slime of some kind.  
Treize breathed a sigh of relief when they pronounced Quatre would be fine with just a bump on the head from Rajura's little attack.

_I wish I could take better care of him,_ Treize thought, sadly. Yes, Treize knew Quatre was a Gundam pilot, he had known for more than a year. Yes, he knew Quatre was being trained for war against the Alliance and would probably try to kill him. Quatre did that sort of thing when he got bored.

Treize asked Noin, "Who did this?" Whoever had set this whole scheme up needed to be dealt with and quickly. It would just make a bad situation worse and if he had to deal with a machine that would turn out psychopaths like Quatre.

"The corner of 33rd and Maple in West City. There's an apartment building, he's taken the whole building, from what I saw," she answered eagerly with fire in her eyes. "He calls himself doctor J and he's a monster. Completely insane or I'll eat my boots! I've heard rumors of this kind of mind-control being experimented with but I didn't think anyone would be mad enough to try it. We've got to destroy that machine, Treize! It's completely evil!"

"What machine?"

"The one in his lab." Noin leaned against Seiji again, clearly exhausted and absently put a hand on his head. "You have to destroy that machine, Treize. You have to... "

Zechs went to Noin and took her hand, stroking it gently. "It's all right. Calm down, Noin. You've been through a lot and... "

"No, it isn't all right!" Noin snapped, though she didn't take her hand away from him. "We have to get him before he hurts anyone else. You know what trouble I had finding him this time. If he moves, we might never find him again. I don't even know if what was done to Quatre can be undone."

**Later-  
Sh'ten-**

Sh'ten had thought death would be more final than what he'd experienced, thus far. He just seemed to drift along behind his family wherever they went. It wouldn't have been so bad if he could have just done something. Anything. He felt worse than useless just watching.

On the other hand, it was amusing to watch his brothers and the ningens in terrible fury as they invaded doctor J's laboratory.

He nearly fell down laughing at the sight of doctor's J's face when Naaza seized him by the throat and lifted him off the ground.

The world faded.

Sh'ten stopped laughing. Everything was frozen around him and blanketed in a thick fog. Ryou's mouth was open in the middle of a shout. Rajura's arm half raised. Xiu was left in mid-step.  
An unfamiliar voice spoke. "Do you want to see them one last time?"

There was no one around that could speak that Sh'ten could see. Still, he really should expect things like this to happen now that he was dead. "I want to punish the man who hurt my family."

"Heero isn't your family, Toshitada Koma. Seiji, you have known for only a very short while."

Sh'ten looked around again for the person who'd used his true name. So few people knew it. "Duo loves Heero, so Heero is apart of my family. Seiji and I are bound by the yoroi and by Ryou. I will protect my family at all costs. I'm shamed I couldn't stop them from being hurt in the first place." Maybe the speaker was dead, also. That would sort of make sense. "Who are you?"

Sh'ten saw, as if he'd been standing there the entire time, a monk in the corner of the room. He was an old man with long white hair, his face hidden under a large wicker hat. He wore tradition monk's robes of blue and white. "My master gives you a choice, Toshitada Koma."

"Who are you?"

"I am a warrior, a monk, a guide, a teacher. I am all that and more." The monk stepped closer to Sh'ten, his staff ringing with his each step as it lightly hit the ground. Sh'ten winced at the ringing, it was so beautiful that it was almost painful to hear. "I have seen many outcomes for destiny and this is but one. Other destinies have more painful endings and others involve you and your loved ones in wars against each other."

"What do you want with me?"

"I want to know what you want. Which destiny will you chose?"

The world unfroze and Sh'ten watched the crowd of his family as they tried to decide what to do with doctor J. No one seemed able to agree. "I want to stay, just a bit longer. I was allowed to go back before, give me another chance."

The monk opened his mouth to say something and then paused, listening to something only he could hear. "What would you do with this one last chance?" He asked finally. "Would you tell your family you loved them? Would you tell them not to grieve for you? Perhaps a final act of love?"

Sh'ten grinned at doctor J. "I will hurt that man. I will give him pain as he's never felt before."

"Is that more important than showing your family you love them?"

Sh'ten gave him a puzzled look. "That IS showing them I love them. How can I show them better than by hurting the one who hurt them?" Sh'ten licked his lips in anticipation. "I'll make him suffer so very, very much. He'll never hurt my family again."

"Wouldn't you rather give pleasure than pain before you leave your family?"

"Is there a difference?"

This answer seemed to decide something as the monk listened to the voice only he heard and Sh'ten got the impression that he'd said the wrong thing. The monk lowered his ornate staff and aimed it at Sh'ten, who took a cautious step backwards. "You are granted two hours in the Ningen Sekai, but since your physical body is no longer here, you will borrow another," the monk declared. Sh'ten felt a great warmth surround him before light flared in his eyes. "Use your time well."

Sh'ten woke in Trowa's arms. He felt smaller and, as he looked down at himself, Sh'ten realized he was in the body of the blonde boy, Quatre. Quatre, Sh'ten could tell, was soundly asleep in his own mind. He wasn't alone, however. There was another presence in Quatre's mind that was trying to wake up, but wasn't able to. It left Sh'ten fully in control of Quatre's body.

He didn't move or speak to let anyone know he was awake, but merely watched and waited. Rajura had ordered doctor J to be tied to a chair in the center of the room.

Doctor J was out cold, with a large bruise on the side of his head. _Anubisu's work, no doubt,_ Sh'ten thought. _He always was a bit heavy handed._

Treize was arguing with Naaza. "I don't want Quatre here! He's too young for this sort of thing."

"What sort of thing?" Naaza replied innocently.

Treize rolled his eyes. "You're going to do exactly what I'd do in your position and we both know it. I don't want Quatre involved!" Treize pointed to the other children who were preparing to leave the labratory: Ryou, Duo, Touma, Xiu, and Shin. "They're leaving and I want Quatre to go with them. If nothing else, Quatre should go to a hospital and see to it that his head gets looked at."

Naaza snorted. "He's got a bump on the head and will probably be a little confused."

"I suppose you're a doctor?" Treize asked acidly.

"I've been a doctor since before your grandfather was walking, boy!" Naaza said, insulted.

Touma spoke up, with puzzled look. "What do you care anyway? He's my brother and I trust Seiji to look after him." Seiji was, apparently, staying behind to help 'take care of' doctor J.

Treize argued with Touma and Naaza a bit longer before Sh'ten decided it was time to let himself be known. "I really think I would rather stay."

Everyone turned to him in shock and Sh'ten felt Trowa's arms tighten around him. "Quatre? How are you feeling?"

It was nice to surprise people once in a while. "Quatre's sleeping at the moment." He laughed at their tense faces and realized that they must have thought he was still Quatre under the influence of the evil spirit. "Come now! I wouldn't hurt you. Not unless you wanted me to." Sh'ten looked up at Trowa's face, unusually showing an expression of surprise and suspicion. "You can put me down, now."

Trowa hesitated a moment, then let Sh'ten down to his feet.

**Continued….**


	32. Punishments

**Chapter 32: Punishment **

**Rajura-**

Rajura wouldn't have presumed to know the boy well, but he understood, by the reactions his friends were giving - mostly wide-eyed caution - that what they had seen of him earlier was not normal for him.

The tall, narrow boy eased Quatre to his feet and took a step backwards. Everyone stared at the boy instead of their captured enemy. It made sense, to Rajura's practical mind. After all, the old man was already bound and helpless. The boy, who'd done his best to tangle with an enraged Anubisu wearing the shape of a massive tiger, was surely more of a threat. He, after all, was free.

"And how are you feeling?" Rajura reluctantly spoke before anyone else when it appeared that no one would take the lead.

Quatre smiled. "I'm just fine. Thank you for asking, 'Jura."

The nick-name stunned Rajura more than anything else they'd seen that night - more even than the metal giants called Gundams.

When no one spoke for a moment, Quatre opened his eyes wide and asked, innocently, "Is there a problem? You all seem rather tense. Ohhh… " His attention suddenly shifted as he realized that he'd been shot and he leaned over to examine the hole in his thigh. The flow of blood had slowed but had left a faintly shining mess on the black outfit he wore. What a strange outfit it was, too. Skintight and completely indecent.

Rajura was offended on Noin-san's behalf, but pleased Kay was nowhere around. He was also embarrassed for Quatre. The boy was far too young to be dressing so scandalously. Rajura decided that it was surely the influence of the man they'd captured according to Noin-san's accusations.  
Quatre poked his finger into the hole in his thigh. Instead of being horrified at the dark, drying blood, Quatre seemed fascinated and poked his finger in deeper until they all heard a squishing noise.

Touma gagged. "Don't do that, Kitty! You'll get an infection!"

Quatre didn't answer, but pulled his finger out, now covered in blood. He straightened up and stared at his blood-coated finger with fascination, then smiled and held out the fingers towards Anubisu. "Hungry? You've used up a lot of energy, haven't you?"

Anubisu dumbly shook his head.

Quatre shrugged and stuck the finger in his own mouth, sucking off the blood like it was the sweetest of candies and licked his lips when he'd finished. "Yummy." Finally he turned to Treize-san and Zechs-san and all of the other ningens. "You can leave now. You're not needed." Quatre smiled, but it was so unlike his normal, innocent smile. This smile was wicked and sinister - familiar. "You need an expert in cases like this." There was something dark about Quatre as he looked around at them. Quatre fixed his eyes on Naaza. "You look so sad, sweet Naotoki." Quatre laughed and raised one hand to tenderly stroke the stunned Naaza's cheek, running his thumb over Naaza's jaw.

Rajura choked at the name. Even more stunning than Quatre's use of Rajura's nick-name was his use of Naaza's true name. Naotoki was the name given to Naaza by his mother, long before he'd been taken into Arago's service. It was a name only his three brothers knew and they would never have told an outsider. In fact, the only one that ever called him Naotoki was…

"Sh'ten?" Naaza took a faltering step back, confused and a little scared at the use of his true name. "'Ten-chan? How...?"

There was a dual gasp from Ryou and Duo and they stepped forward, but hesitated in going right to Quatre. Ryou put his arms around himself. It was Duo - naturally - who spoke. "Mama Sh'ten?"

Quatre smirked at the two boys over his shoulder. "My boys." He moved away from Naaza to walk around doctor J. "You all look so surprised to see me. I would have thought you'd be used to it by now. Yes, I am Sh'ten."

Ryou and Duo moved closer to one another until their knuckles brushed and they seemed to gain strength from the touch. "Mama Sh'ten," Ryou said. "Are you staying this time?"

It was impossible to miss the alarmed reaction from both Touma and Trowa.

"No," Sh'ten answered. "I'm just borrowing this body. Mine's of no more use. I was given the gift of more time and I wanted to help. I wanted to help with this," He reached out and lay Quatre's slim hand on the top of doctor J's head. "Don't worry about Quatre. I'll give him back in a little while." He likely meant that for those, like Trowa and Touma, who looked concerned for Quatre, but didn't look away from doctor J. "Quatre, due to his recent experiences, seems to be very sensitive to all aspects of life and otherwise. That is what makes this whole… experience possible."

There was no link, Rajura sadly realized. He reached out, but there was only emptiness where Sh'ten should have been in his mind. No bond at all to prove whether or not the person inhabiting Quatre was Sh'ten. Rajura didn't doubt it, though. Even if he hadn't known that Naaza was Naotoki, Rajura felt that he would have known.

"Give Quatre back," Trowa ordered.

Sh'ten laughed. "Or what? Will you kill Quatre's body? I'm already dead, so I really don't care. Perhaps you'll try to torture me in order to force my compliance." His eyes sparkled. "I'm afraid I haven't time enough for that. Besides, 'Za-chan gets jealous. Don't look so grim. It's not that bad. Your Quatre isn't hurt, nor will he be from me. Quatre needed a rest, anyway. He doesn't need this body at the moment. I do."

"Why?" Touma asked, worried. His fingers twitched at his sides and his brow was furrowed deeply.

Sh'ten stared at them all, looking them up and down as if he couldn't get enough of them. "I wanted to see you all before it was to late. This is my last opportunity to speak with you before I move on." He paused for a tense moment. Then, with a bright smile, said, "Enough of this depressing rubbish." Sh'ten rubbed his hands together eagerly and turned his gaze to doctor J. "How about fun before I leave?"

It made Rajura laugh. "This is the man who hurt Seiji and Heero and, now, Quatre and Noin. He's all yours."

Sh'ten chuckled. "As my last act on this world, and an effort to bring a new meaning to the word 'pain', I'll conduct this punishment." His eyes took a decidedly evil light. "This will be my best work ever. A true masterpiece."

**Heero-**

"Just let me get some toys." Sh'ten said before leaving the room. He didn't doubt that the one speaking was Sh'ten. He had no reason to think Quatre would lie, so there was no reason to disbelieve his words.

It really didn't matter.

He was losing his courage, rapidly.

Heero swallowed, not for the first time since arriving at doctor J's hide-out, and inched backwards. It wasn't hard. No one was paying him any attention. They were all too intent on Sh'ten. Heero could feel his heart thudding painfully against his ribs. This wasn't supposed to happen. They were just going to retrieve their missing friend, that was all. They should have returned to Kushranada's home. They shouldn't have come hunting for doctor J. Heero shouldn't have, anyway. He knew he should have left them when Anubisu had furiously demanded they find the one responsible for this evil. He should have found some excuse to stay away. But he hadn't because Duo had wanted to go in.

Doctor J groaned and raised his head. He took only a moment to take in the sight before his eyes went to Heero and he snapped, "Heero, kill them all!"

Something inside Heero seemed to jump at the order. Heero jerked his gun out of the holster and took aim at the first person he saw: Seiji. Everyone froze.

Seiji did nothing. He didn't even look surprised.

_Move Seiji. Get away, fight. Do something!_ Heero thought desperately.

Seiji just stood there, his face perfectly still and emotionless, just as he'd been trained.

_Please, move._

Seiji stared at Heero. "I won't fight you, Heero."

"Kill him! That's an order!" Doctor J screamed.

Heero started to pull back on the trigger. It was an easy kill, Seiji was only about three feet away from him. The mission would be complete.

**Flashback-**

"Don't cry, Heero. I'll protect you."

"I'll always be with you, Heero."

"You won't let them hurt me, will you, Heero?"

"It's okay that you're scared of spiders. I'm scared of the dark. Don't tell doctor J, all right?"

"You're my best friend."

**End Flashback-**

Everything slipped into the right place. Like a puzzle piece that finally fit into the correct spot, Heero understood what was right and wrong. It had always escaped him, before. There had never been right or wrong. There was pain and there was fear. Heero understood those. Right and wrong were things he'd never had to think about. Orders were orders and didn't require thought. All he had to do was act.

Seiji, though…. Seiji knew what was right. He stood before Heero's gun without fear.

He trusted Heero.

Seiji believed in Heero.

Slowly, Heero turned away from Seiji, his finger still on the trigger of his gun, and took aim at doctor J. The doctor was so helpless, tied to that chair, the perfect target.

"Heero?" Doctor J started shaking. "What are you doing? I'm not your target. Your mission is to kill them." His tone turned harder. "You will not kill me, Heero. You are mine. You can not kill me."

Heero felt himself waver. He belonged to doctor J, he had for almost as long as he could remember. Doctor J gave him everything from clothes to food and a purpose in life. 'But I don't like doctor J. He hurts me and he let those other people hurt me.' Heero's gun started to shake along with his hand. _Can't hurt me if he's dead._

"You must obey orders, Heero. You must obey."

Heero looked at Seiji from the corner of his eye, but Seiji was still frozen, refusing to help in the decision.

Doctor J leaned forward as much as he was able to. "You can not disobey, Heero."

_I can!_ Heero's hand stopped shaking when he met Duo's eyes. _I can disobey!_

Doctor J seemed to sense Heero's sudden resolve and licked his lips, nervously. "Put your gun away, Heero. I only do what I have to for your own good. I want you to be strong. You never wanted to be weak, did you."

"I hate you." Heero felt his heart stop for just a moment. "I hate you. You hurt me. You hurt Seiji. You made me hurt people. I hate you." The words came out slow and in simple, childish statements. He felt his throat seize up as he forced out the words he'd wanted to say for so long.

Doctor J started sweating. His mouth tightened.

Heero didn't stop, his eyes took on a kind of frantic gleam and his teeth clenched. "I want to kill you. I want to make you feel pain. I want you gone and I want you hurt... I want... I want... "

"Don't do this, Heero." Doctor J said, sounding more desperate by the second. "You won't be happy if you kill me. You will be very unhappy without your orders. How can you survive without me? There will be no one to tell you what to do."

"I will choose how to be happy!" Heero shouted. "I will chose what to do and I will chose how to live. I will make my own choices!" Heero spun around suddenly and grabbed Duo by the front of his shirt to pulling him in for a kiss.

**Duo-**

Duo's mind stalled in shock until Heero started pulling away. _Oh, no you don't!_

**Heero-**

_He doesn't like it,_ Heero thought miserably when Duo stiffened in his arms and just froze. _I should have known. Why would he even want to touch me?_ Heero, not wanting to upset Duo, began pulling away from the kiss.

Duo's hands took Heero's head and held him firmly in place as he stuck his tongue in Heero's mouth. Hero was absolutely shocked when Duo ran his tongue along Heero's teeth.

Heero's mind stalled. _Maybe he does like it._

**Seiji and Ryou-**

YES! IT'S ABOUT TIME!

**Rajura-**

_Sigh… children. So overdramatic._

**Heero-**

After several long minutes, Heero pulled away from Duo, breathless and dizzy.

His first kiss…

Heero re-aimed his gun at doctor J ... but he couldn't fire. Frowning, Heero tried to tightened his finger on the trigger, but couldn't. He knew what he wanted, so why couldn't he just do it? Raising his other hand to grip his gun with both hands, Heero tried yet again, but his finger simply wouldn't move.

"S-Seiji? I... I can't." Heero hated how weak his voice sounded. Slowly, the gun fell from his hands, landing on the floor with a loud thud.

Seiji put his arm around Heero's shoulders. "It's all right."

Heero's chest felt tight and his eyes were burning. A tear ran down his cheek and splashed onto Seiji's hand. Heero raised a hand to his eye and touched the wet trail the tear had left behind. Crying? Tears? No, he hadn't cried since Seiji had been taken away from him.

Duo wordlessly threw his arms around Heero, hugging him tightly.

"It's okay to cry." Seiji whispered, patting Heero's hair. Seiji and Duo pulled Heero slightly, taking him further away from doctor J.

"I told you, Heero, you couldn't do it." Doctor J smiled. "Release me, now."

"Now, don't be so hasty to leave. You don't want to be rude, do you?" Sh'ten was back with a thin smile and his arms full of... things. "Just because Heero doesn't feel quite up to this, doesn't mean we have to cancel the festivities. I'm sure you and I can have just as much fun without him." Sh'ten shifted his eyes to Anubisu. "Put him on the table, 'Nubie. I want him to be tied spread eagle, Rajura, 'Za-chan." The three Ma-Sho came forward and did as they were told.

Rajura turned to Treize. "I think it's time that everyone left. Please, take Noin-san somewhere safe so she can rest. This is no place for a lady. The children have no place here, either. Everyone should leave but Heero and Seiji. It's their right to be here and help."

Treize gave Rajura a suspicious look. "Are you going to kill him? I need him to stand trial for treason as well as kidnapping and various other crimes."

Rajura met his gaze evenly. "Forget about him. When Sh'ten is finished, there won't be anything left."

Treize thought about it for a moment, before nodding. "Zechs, let's go home."

Zechs obediently followed, carrying Noin.

Seiji looked like he wanted to go with his sister, but he kept looking at doctor J with undisguised hatred. Ryou put a hand on his shoulder. "Do you want to stay?"

Seiji nodded.

"I'll go take care of your sister for you." Ryou gave Seiji and peck on the cheek before running after Treize and Zechs. Before he'd gone very far, though, Ryou stopped and turned back. He looked at Sh'ten, not Seiji.

The terrible grief in his eyes was painful. "I miss you, Mama Sh'ten. It's not fair. My parents died. My granma died. Now you died. I... I thought you'd live forever and I wouldn't have to worry about losing you."

"I died for you, Ryou. Don't be sad about it, I don't regret my death. It was glorious." Sh'ten just smiled and kissed Ryou on the cheek. "Go, Ryou-chan. I don't want you to see what I'm going to do here." "But... " Duo stepped objected, keeping one arm around Heero's shoulders. Sh'ten held up a hand to stall any argument. "Duo-chan, you know I'm right. Go with your brother and take care of everyone."

Duo tried to look angry, but he ended up switching his hug from Heero to Sh'ten. "I love you, Mama Sh'ten. Why did you have to die?" He was crying freely and didn't seem at all embarrassed about it.

Sh'ten put a hand on the side of Duo's face and looked right in his eyes. "Because my family needed me and because I love you all. I would die again, if I had to. I'm so proud to be your mama." Sh'ten told him with a smile.

Duo suddenly burst away from Sh'ten and ran to Heero who was now standing with Ryou. Apparently, Seiji had entrusted Heero to Ryo while he stayed here to help with doctor J. Together with their arms around each other, Duo and Heero left the apartment with their friends, Treize, and Zechs who carried Noin. That left Sh'ten looking at Wufei and Trowa who'd stayed behind. "You two had better... "

"No," Wufei answered. "We are staying."

"May I ask why?"

Trowa gave him a pointed look. "I want to make sure Quatre will be all right. He wouldn't like what you're planning to do."

"Rest assured," Sh'ten said. "Quatre is fast asleep and he will not remember any of this when he wakes."

Wufei said, "We have as much right as Seiji and Heero to be here. We were all trained in similar manners and, we've just found out, that we were betrayed by this one." He jabbed a finger at doctor J. "I want to be here to see justice done."

Sh'ten laughed. "Dear child. What is going to happen here will be justice, but I seriously doubt you will appreciate it as much as you think you will. I am not going to execute this man; that would be to merciful. I am going to cause him as much pain as I possibly can. I am very good at this and his pain will last several hours."

Wufei pointed at Heero and Seiji. "Their pain lasted almost ten years from what I've been told. I don't think even you could make doctor J suffer enough."

Sh'ten gave up trying to persuade Wufei and Trowa, but then started to explain what, exactly, he was going to do to doctor J. After about two minutes of listening to him, Wufei fled the room with Trowa following quickly after.

Doctor J protested loudly the entire time, but no one tried to stifle him. They let him rant and rave, struggling pathetically to free himself. While that was happening, Sh'ten moved another, smaller table closer and began to set out his 'toys' on it. Heero saw everything from small butter knives to more ominous toys included a large cleaver, a hand saw, a chain about seven feet long, several large fishing hooks, and jars of... stuff.

"Don't feel to badly about not being able to kill doctor J," Sh'ten told Heero as he organized his equipment. "You've been under his influence for a long time. I don't suppose it's easy to break away in a day. You'll get better. For right now, I think it's best that you just watch. If it's too much for you, just step outside. That goes for you, too, Seiji."

Sh'ten gleefully looked around at all the computers, searching for something. Finally, he smiled when he saw a bunch of wires sticking out from one of the computers. With one tug, all the wires came out, with loose ends and sparks flying for just a second. "Oh, yes. These will do nicely." Sh'ten's eyes seemed to glow with an unholy light.

**Rajura-**

Rajura had no more doubt that the spirit using Quatre's body was Sh'ten. The innocent-looking boy could be none other than Rajura's wicked little brother. Once the irritating doctor had been efficiently tied down with thick rope Sh'ten had found, Rajura, Anubisu, and Naaza backed away from the table to give Sh'ten working room. Sh'ten turned Quatre's sweet blue eyes on doctor J who stared at him, terrified. "As you may have guessed," Sh'ten said pleasantly. "I am evil. I don't make any excuses for it, it's just one of the things that makes me what I am. Frankly, I enjoy what I am. It gives me a thrill every time I see a look of pain cross someone's face." Sh'ten picked up a length of the wire he'd just ripped from one of the computers and stretched it between his hands. "I'm going to hurt you, now."

Doctor J's eyes fixated on Sh'ten, tracking him intently, as if he could think of a way to escape this situation. "There's no need for this. I can compensate you… "

Rajura asked, "You won't be so unkind as to deny Sh'ten, will you? Sh'ten's been patient for a very long time, just waiting for a chance to revive his skills." Rajura went to doctor J's side and squatted down so he could get closer to the man's face. "You're about to be given pain by a skilled artist. You should feel honored, really." Laughing softly, Rajura backed away again.

Sh'ten licked his lips, the wire now tightly wrapped around his hands, leaving about six inches between his hands. "Get those goggles off his face, Anubisu. I want to see his eyes."

Anubisu wordlessly complied, using his large hands to pull the goggles off.

Doctor J cried out when his face lurched forward at the tug. "No! They're implants, they don't come off!"

"They will." Anubisu smirked. He pulled again and the goggles did, indeed, come off. With blood squirting off as they popped off. There was a thin line of blood outlining doctor J's eyes. "See," Anubisu dropped the goggles onto the floor. "That wasn't so hard was it?"

Doctor J panted and blinked his dark brown eyes rapidly. The skin around his eyes, that wasn't bleeding, was white as snow as it hadn't seen daylight in years. "There's no need for all this. I'm sure we can reach an agreement."

Anubisu, before moving away, dropped the goggles and leaned down over doctor J's face. He took a long lick of the blood around doctor J's eyes. Anubisu licked his lips and smiled. "You don't taste too good, to be honest. Honestly, you do human experimentation, torture small children, kill your own allies, and your blood isn't even good enough to drink. I wonder if you have any redeeming qualities at all."

With slow precision, Sh'ten took the wire in his hands and lay it carefully over doctor J's throat. Sh'ten yanked down hard, straining the wire across doctor J's throat. A deep gagging from doctor J stifled any cry of pain he wanted to let out, but his frightened eyes bugged out and his face turned bright red almost instantly. Sh'ten held him like that for a minute, before abruptly releasing him and stepping away, almost staggering.

"Oh, yes." Sh'ten breathed heavily with a manic smile. "I liked that."

Naaza shifted uncomfortably next to Rajura. HE'S GETTING AROUSED WITH THIS, Naaza told Rajura, as if Rajura didn't know. I HOPE HE CAN KEEP HIMSELF FROM DOING ANYTHING... WEIRD.

YOU WISH, Rajura replied. YOU KNOW HE'S A PERVERT WHEN IT COMES TO THIS SORT OF THING.

Sh'ten was spasmodically tightening and releasing the wire around his hands and muttering to himself, "Mustn't be too fast. We want this to last as long as possible. Where to begin, oh where to begin?" Sh'ten seemed unfocused for a minute and Rajura realized that he'd never actually seen Sh'ten in action before. Yes, he'd seen his little brother do some truly awful things, but Sh'ten had always hinted that he could do better, or rather, worse.

Sh'ten never lost his focus on doctor J. "I think we're alike, you and I. I enjoy pain. You enjoy pain. You must, or you wouldn't have hurt my little brother like you did. That proves you like causing pain. If you hadn't hurt my little brother, I wouldn't be hurting you now."

"No." Doctor J shook his head wildly. "I didn't know he was your brother. I swear I didn't know!"

"Neither did I, at the time. Doesn't really matter though, now does it? This is now and he is my family. You hurt him so I will hurt you. Anubisu?"

"Yes?"

Sh'ten looked down at Quatre's thin, delicate body. "This body isn't strong enough to do what I want it to do. I want you to break his bones, starting from his toes and working up to his... ummm... working up to his hips. Yes, that should be good enough. Would you do that for me?"

"My pleasure." Anubisu cracked his knuckles and set to work. With the air of a professional, Anubisu took off doctor J's ankle length boots and black socks so he could see what he was doing.

"No!" Doctor J shouted, raising his head as much as possible and turning his eyes to Heero. "Heero, stop him! That's an order! You must obey!"

Heero moved forward slightly, obeying by habit, before Seiji wrapped his arms around Heero and held him tightly against his chest.

"Don't listen." Seiji said, not bothering to whisper. "Just don't listen. He's not important now." He leaned his chin over Heero's shoulder and in Seiji's arms, Heero relaxed slightly though his eyes never left the begging doctor J. Anubisu broke doctor J's smallest toe and the old man let out a scream.

"Don't get so upset," Sh'ten said. "It's only one toe, after all. We have a long way to go."

In a calm, easy manner, Anubisu broke each toe in succession. When he was finished, he moved to doctor J's feet, crushing the bones with a hammer Sh'ten had found. He moved onto the ankles, both bones in the lower legs, both kneecaps and, with the hammer again, both upper legs. For the hipbones, Anubisu simply put both of his fists together and smashed down.

Doctor J passed out at that point and Sh'ten pouted.

"Well, that's no fun. 'Za-chan, heal him for me, please."

Naaza didn't reply, but walked to doctor J's side and looked down on him in contempt. Then Naaza spit on doctor J, his spittle sizzling where it hit doctor J's black and blue foot. Naaza kept spitting on him, occasionally slapping the man with a hand, to wipe his secretions off on doctor J. At one particularly bad break, Naaza extended his fangs to their full length, nearly two inches, and let his venom drip freely out. While Naaza often healed his family with his burning touch, he would make it as pleasant as humanly possible, with soft touches and kisses. Doctor J deserved none of that concern.

"It's not working," Sh'ten complained, irritably. "I want him to wake up. I want him to feel this."

"It'll just take time," Naaza told him. "A little waiting won't hurt."

"But it might. I don't have long before I have to leave." He didn't look at Naaza's hurt expression. "I want this to last, but I want it done before my time is up. This is the last time I'll be able to come back."

"How do you know?" Anubisu asked.

"I was told that. This is the last time I'll be able to see you and I want everyone to remember me. Anyway, Seiji, would you mind giving it a try?"

Seiji nodded and stepped up next to Naaza. His mind was filled with the memories of everything doctor J had done to him and Heero over the years. The dark room loomed impressively in the forefront. Seiji healed doctor J enough that he woke up and all this bones were healed, but Seiji himself was exhausted afterwards and had to be caught by Heero before he fell.

"Ah, you're with us again." Sh'ten clapped his hands together cheerfully when doctor J woke. "Heero, please get Seiji a chair so he can be comfortable. Let's get a move on, shall we? I think next... " He paused for dramatic effect. "'Za-chan, would you like to have a go?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Naaza grinned just as Rajura took Heero by the arm.

"I think you and Seiji had best wait over here." Rajura said leading them to a corner of the large room, away from doctor J. "I know you deserve to be here, but I don't want you too close when Naaza gets going." He stood with them, partially blocking Heero's view of whatever Naaza was doing.

Doctor J's screaming went on for several minutes and the smell of burning flesh intensified. Rajura saw thin wisps of smoke coming from doctor J's body and was more than a little disturbed by what he saw. Not that his brothers were torturing doctor J, that was expected and he was used to that sort of thing. He was disturbed that neither Heero nor Seiji seemed upset by what they saw. They should be at least a 'little' upset.

"Doctor J used to make us watch things," Seiji said, as if he knew what Rajura was thinking. "We watched videos of people killing each other. Once we had to sit completely still while two rabid dogs ripped each other apart in front of us. He killed a baby in front of us, at one time. It was crying and he used a scalpel to cut open its ribcage. It was still crying when he made us touch its beating heart. He called it desensitization. So whatever we had to see or do on a mission wouldn't make us falter."

It was the most Rajura had ever heard Seiji say at one time and even Rajura, who'd seen and done so much in his long life, was horrified.

"Rajura," Sh'ten called out. "I want some more toys. Have anything in mind?"

Giving Seiji a pat on the arm, Rajura answered. "Oh, I think I can come up with something." Rajura raised one hand and closed his eyes, envisioning what would be most useful to Sh'ten.

"Oh, 'Jura!" Sh'ten flushed with excitement when Rajura was finished decorating the room. "You are just too good to me."

The room was brighter, suddenly, giving light enough for doctor J to clearly see what was going to be done to him. From the ceiling hung long, thick chains, each with a barbed hook on the end. For effect, there were now windows that looked out onto bright, sunny fields of wildflowers. The table where Sh'ten had put his found 'toys' was now accompanied by three others, all surrounding doctor J, and all filled with 'toys'. For a moment, Sh'ten went from table to table, inspecting what Rajura had given him to work with.

"I don't see anything." Seiji said, looking around.

"You aren't meant to," Anubisu answered, taking Rajura's place next to the two boys. "Rajura doesn't want to corrupt you any more than necessary. Doctor J's already done a pretty thorough job on you and we don't want it to get any worse."

"Can you see it?" Seiji asked.

"Yes. But I'm already corrupted so it doesn't matter."

"We've seen bad things before. It can't be worse than what doctor J put us through."

Anubisu gave Seiji a penetrating look. "Doctor J is human and nothing more. You haven't seen evil until you've been in the service of a demon for a few centuries. Just relax and be thankful you don't have to see this."

Rajura knew that, to Seiji and Heero, it looked like nothing was happening. To them, Sh'ten was looking around at empty space and doctor J was afraid of absolutely nothing. Everyone else, though, saw Sh'ten pick up a silver spoon.

"What... what is that for?" Doctor J asked in a shaking voice.

"You took Seiji's eye. I think I want yours. I remember someone telling me once, something about and eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. I approve of that philosophy." Sh'ten leaned over doctor J, with his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth and he put the illusion spoon to doctor J's left eye.

"No! Let me go!"

Sh'ten stifled a giggle when he angled the spoon down and scooped out the wet, quivering eyeball. Doctor J almost passed out again, but Naaza kept him awake, with another of his healing slaps across the face. Sh'ten held the eyeball in the spoon, bringing it up close to his face. "Nice to SEE you." Sh'ten giggled again, at his bad pun, before he gave the eye a quick lick. In his, or rather, Quatre's bare hand Sh'ten dropped the eyeball and rolled it around for a minute before he poked it with one finger, amused. He looked like a small child playing with a new toy, the way he seemed fascinated by the eyeball. "I want to keep it."

"You can't," Rajura told him firmly. "This isn't real, remember. He'll still be whole when you're done with him."

"That's what you think." Sh'ten smirked at Rajura. "I'm just getting warmed up."

Sh'ten cut off doctor J's pant legs before picking up a large carving knife, similar to what one might use to carve a turkey. "The foot bone's connected to the ankle bone," Sh'ten said in a sing-song voice as he tapped doctor J's foot with the knife and moved it to the ankle. "Duo taught me this song, you know." He said in a conversational voice before continuing to sing. "The ankle bone's connected to the... the... hmm, I seem to have forgotten. I suppose I'll just have to find out for myself." The knife slid into doctor J's calf muscle easily, with a large squirt of blood that told Rajura Sh'ten had managed to hit an artery. Sh'ten didn't even pause, but continued to carve around the bone until all the muscles and skin of doctor J's lower leg fell off in a sloppy mess. "Oh, yes. I remember. It's the leg bone that comes next. Silly me."

Rajura felt the urge to vomit, but held it back. He'd known this would be bad and he had to keep the illusion steady or he'd ruin all Sh'ten's hard work.

**Seiji-**

After a while, Sh'ten tired of the illusion and he wanted to do some 'real' work. He had Rajura cast off the illusion so he could use a paring knife he'd found somewhere.

Sh'ten peeled doctor J like an apple, methodically removing the skin from doctor J's now naked body. Seiji had to cover his mouth with his hand to keep from throwing up and Heero turned a pale shade of green. That was when Heero and Seiji reached their breaking point and had to leave the room. Outside, in the hallway, cut off from doctor J's screams, they found Trowa and Wufei waiting silently.

"Are they finished?" Trowa asked.

Seiji shook his head. "Just getting started, I believe."

Wufei's eyes widened. "Just getting started? They've been in there for an hour."

Again, silence and everyone seemed wrapped up in their own thoughts. The doctors' Quatre had killed before had been drug down the hall, but Trowa and Wufei kept glimpsing at the bodies out of the corners of their eyes. The unspoken, but all-important question, weighted heavily between them. _What do we do now?_ For most of their lives, the doctors had controlled the four boys, dictated their purposes in life.

"I'm going to stay with my auntie and my cousins," Wufei said at last. "I'm not going to help start a war, now. They already lied to us about so much and we shouldn't do anything until we know the truth. I don't even know what's real, anymore. I'll help run the restaurant."

"I agree," Trowa said. "If we find out that Treize and the Alliance really are evil, then we can destroy them. Until then, I should go back to the circus." While he said this, though, his gaze was firmly fixed on the door behind which Quatre's body was being used to do terrible, terrible things. Everyone could tell that he didn't want to leave his new friend.

Finally, everyone looked at Heero, who'd said nothing, but Heero looked away quickly and Seiji knew what the problem was. Heero had no where to go. No family to take care of him and teach him how to survive without doctor J. It didn't matter, Seiji would have Heero stay with him until Heero could do it on his own.

"What about you, Seiji?" Trowa asked.

Seiji gave him a flat look. "I no longer have my Gundam. I destroyed it when I reached Earth, so I'm no longer a pilot. I will stay with my family." Not only Luc, but also Ryou, Touma, Shin, and Xiu. Seiji couldn't imagine living without them.

"That's a good point," Wufei said. "What do we do with the Gundams? We can't just leave them around for anyone to find. Even if there's not going to be a war, we have to protect them. It would be almost impossible for us all to find hiding places for them."

No one seemed to know an answer for that question.

Still, the image of what his 'brothers' were doing in the other room made Seiji's stomach turn and he put a hand in his pocket to grab the precious orb. With only slight effort, Seiji reached out and touched the minds of Ryou, Touma, Shin, and Xiu. They wrapped around him like a comforting blanket he'd once had when he was very little and Seiji let himself be surrounded by their love.

**Naaza-**

When it was over, doctor J was dead. What had been his body was little more than a bloody lump on the table, not even recognizable as a human. Sh'ten had made even himself proud with what he'd done to doctor J.

"It's over." Sh'ten wiped his bloody hands on Quatre's black suit. "I have to leave now."

The three who remained with him knew this had been coming and, strangely, Naaza didn't feel so terribly sad, this time.

Sh'ten came to a stop before Rajura, looking up at the taller man. "Jirougorou," Rajura stiffened when Sh'ten used his true name. "You are the greatest teacher I've ever had the honor of knowing. You suffered with your power more than any of us ever have and you had to live alone for so many years. You are the one who spared us that suffering and made us into a family. I have never known anyone as strong as you." Sh'ten stood on his tiptoes and put a hand behind Rajura's head, digging his fingers into Rajura's long white hair. With a gentle pull, Sh'ten brought Rajura's head down to his own and they kissed firmly. When Sh'ten finally released him Rajura was crying silently and turned away from everyone.

Sh'ten moved to Anubisu next and took his hand, rubbing it between Quatre's two small hands. "Kujuurou, I love you dearer than any brother ever could. You were so afraid of yourself and you never told anyone. So afraid that you'd hurt one of us and you tried to keep us out of your heart. I wish I could have helped you more to deal with what you are." He smiled wickedly and raised one of Anubisu's hands to kiss the savage claws that still replaced his fingernails. "I'll regret never being able to run with you, again. Under the midnight moon of the Ningen Sekai, with a cool summer breeze at our backs." Sh'ten put his hand behind Anubisu's neck and pulled Anubisu into a kiss, just as he had with Rajura. It was a deep kiss and Anubisu ended up, as Rajura had, crying.

Finally, he came to Naaza, whose arms were wrapped tightly around himself. Naaza spoke first. "Who's going to help me when it come time for me to shed?" Silly thing to say, but it was the first thing that popped into his head. It was almost time for his skin to shed and Sh'ten had always helped. For centuries it had been Sh'ten who would sit with him and read to him while waiting for the pain filled hours to pass until the skin peeled off, just like any other snake shed its skin.  
"The others will rub and oil your skin," Sh'ten said quietly. "You know how to make the oil and Rajura's hands are very soft."

"You're hands are softer."

The two stood in silence for a moment. "I'll never forget you, Naotoki." Sh'ten seemed on the verge of tears. "If I could... I wish... " Sh'ten was at a loss for words and just stepped in to hug Naaza. Quatre's body was so much smaller than Naaza's and ended up with Sh'ten's cheek pressed against Naaza's chest. "I'll always love you."

Naaza bent down at tilted Sh'ten's face up and they kissed. Now, Sh'ten did let a few tears fall, but he quickly wiped them away once he stepped away from Naaza. He said nothing and gave them all a sad smile, but rolled his eyes up into his head and fell limply into Naaza's arms. "He's gone," Naaza said, strangely calm. "He gone... again."

"Do you think he'll come back?" Anubisu asked softly, putting a hand on Quatre's hair.

Naaza shook his head. "I... I really don't know."

**Doctor J-**

Doctor J found himself standing in his computer room, the same room where he'd given Quatre to the Zero System and was absolutely overjoyed to find he was whole. There wasn't a scratch or even a splatter of blood on him anywhere. The boys who stood around looking at something on a table didn't see him and doctor J kept as quiet as he could, knowing that he'd finally escaped them.  
Quatre, collapsed and being held in the arms of some man with green hair, had been the one who'd caused him so much pain. Doctor J swore to himself that he would see the boy was retrained - properly this time. After all, he owned Quatre. He owned all of them; they were his creations and the pride of his career.

"I wouldn't worry about Quatre too much, if I were you."

Doctor J whirled around to find a man looking at him. The man had long reddish brown hair and bright green eyes that sparkled as he looked at doctor J. "What are you talking about?" Doctor J asked cautiously. He was sure that he'd never seen this man before, even though there was something very familiar about him. "You have other business to take care of. Those boys aren't important to you anymore." The man was dressed strangely, in a dark green surcoat with gold trim. Underneath, he wore a kimono of solid green.

"Who are you?"

"Your guide." The man seemed to fine amusement in this. "I'm here to take you to where you belong. Do come with me, won't you?"

Something about the way he said that made doctor J suspicious. "Where do you think I belong, exactly?"

"Why, your laboratory, naturally," The man answered with an innocent expression. The man took doctor J by the arm and pulled him toward a door.

"I don't remember that door." Doctor J said with a frown.

The man said nothing, but pulled doctor J persistently, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips the whole time.

Getting a sudden feeling that he didn't want the door to open, doctor J tried to stop the man from pulling him.

"There's nothing to worry about." The man told him, forcing him to walk forwards. "This is the entrance to your laboratory. Everything in there, you created. You're not afraid of what you made, are you?"

"What? No. No, certainly not." Well, that wasn't entirely true. At the moment, he wasn't sure he wanted to be alone with any of the boys he'd made. His pride wouldn't allow him to admit that. This stranger didn't know what had happened, after all. Strange, it had seemed so real and yet here he was without a mark on him. Doctor J reasoned that it must have been a dream or a hallucination of some kind.

"Good." The man's grin grew. "Then you won't mind being in your laboratory for a little while." In the stranger's hand there was a weapon, suddenly. A sickle attached to a chain with a spiked weight on the other end of the chain was in his hands and he pointed it at the door that suddenly swung open. "Why don't we step in?"

Once inside, doctor J paled.

"Now, I'm sure you haven't forgotten all your creations, the ones who came before your perfect soldier. I've learned a lot about you doctor J and I've learned that Heero, Seiji, and those other boys weren't your only creations. There were others, before your successes. The failures you threw away. The flawed experiments that were nothing more to you than mere set backs."

The laboratory was indeed just as doctor J remembered, but it was not exactly what he remembered. It was more like a mix between all the labs he'd used over the past twenty-three years. It was darkened, but doctor J could see enough to be afraid. Eyes stared out at him and shadows moved in halting, jerky movements. Groans and moans echoed softly in the lab, pain filled sounds along with vague mutterings.

"Hurts. It hurts."

"Don't hurt me, please. I wanna go home."

"I'll kill you. I swear I'll kill you!"

Doctor J started backing away only to bump into the red haired man. He turned quickly. "Get me out of here!"

The stranger looked around, displeased. "Now, this won't do at all. How can we see a thing in this light?" He flicked the light switch and the room was flooded with light. "Ah, that's better."

Doctor J choked, he was so frightened. "Oh, God. Save me." He recognized the children. Each one he recognized and he remembered their deaths.

"I really don't think your god wants anything to do with you at the moment. No, this is a better place for you and I've been given permission to let you stay here for a while. You took orphans and homeless children, unable to defend or take care of themselves. When that didn't get you what you wanted, you kidnapped a children from their families or bought them." The red haired man shook his head. "Even I have limits. You can't even justify yourself by claiming madness, because I KNOW you're perfectly sane. You're just evil."

"Please!" Doctor J was crying in earnest as his creations made their way towards him. One boy with no legs was pulling himself along the floor with his hands while a trail of blood seeped out from his open abdomen. Doctor J remembered slicing the boy in half himself after the boy had failed a simple mission. The boy had had to die, but there was no reason to waste good organs that could be sold at a high price. Doctor J had not bothered to waste time or money using anesthetic and had operated while the boy was still alive.

A girl with her head shaved and bleeding from her eyes and her ears walked awkwardly and glared at doctor J menacingly. Her mouth had been sewn shut. They were all around, all the... things he'd made and all the failures. The children who hadn't been strong enough to survive the training and he'd had to get rid of them.

"I'm sure you'll be happy here." The stranger smiled, making him look oddly demonic in the dim light. "What you have sown, so shall you reap." With that, the man turned and walked towards the still open door, laughing. At that moment, doctor J knew that laugh. It was Quatre's laugh, the one he'd used when he'd tortured doctor J. "You won't be here forever, don't worry. I'm sure in the meantime, however, your failures would like to have a word with you. They've been waiting for you."

The red haired man stepped through the door and it instantly vanished, leaving doctor J trapped alone with his creatures, the dead children he thought he'd seen the last of so long ago.

"Keep away." He said, though his voice had lost the command it once held as the children came closer and closer. In jars on the shelves, doctor J couldn't help but recognize several organs of different children he'd saved for study over the years. Inside their glass jars, the organs moved and thrashed in the formaldehyde as if they, too, wished to get at doctor J. "Stay away from me!"

One of the children, the leg-less boy, had reached doctor J and grabbed his pant leg with one hand. "I want to go home, doctor." The boy sputtered through his many broken teeth. "I want to go home!"

Doctor J shook his leg, trying to free himself of the boy, but as he did another boy took his arm. "I want to go home! I miss my mommy. Let me go home!" This boy's eyes had rotted out, leaving only black decay and a writhing mass of maggots where his eyes should be.

"I'm scared, I don't want to be here!" The girl who had died just before doctor J had kidnapped Seiji grabbed his other arm and started pulling.

"Let me go!" Doctor J screamed, desperately trying to get away. He could barely move, though. They were so strong and there were to many of them, holding him down like anchors held a ship. There was no escape. No doors or windows, no way for him to even fight back. Doctor J screamed again, as loud as he could, hoping for someone to save him.

No one came.

**Sh'ten-**

Sh'ten listened to the screams of the man who'd hurt his family and smiled. A genuine, pleasant smile that showed exactly how happy he was. With a sigh of contentment, Sh'ten walked away from where he'd left Dr. J to his just reward. "I love my work."

**To be continued...**


	33. Murder

**Chapter 33 : Murder **

**Nasty-**

Byakuen was miserable.

He sullenly lay on the floor between the sofa and the television and made no effort to move, not even when Kokuen-Oh lay beside him and began lapping at his long white hair. Byakuen batted his hand at Kokuen-Oh, but his twin ignored the gesture and kept grooming Byakuen as if Byakuen weren't a human man - a very unhappy human man.

It should have made Nasty nervous. Any sensible person would have been phoning for animal control the moment the two tigers had strolled into the house. Instead, they'd made themselves right at home and no one, not even mistrustful Treize, had given them much more than a second thought. Nasty found that she wasn't even a bit afraid to be alone with the two tigers with just baby Lai for company.

They weren't normal tigers, that much was obvious. They were too intelligent to be just animals. They'd shown no signs of any urge to hunt or eat the people they were around so often. Rajura hadn't so much as hesitated when he'd said that Byakuen and Kokuen-Oh would stay with the women and children. All the same, Nasty's instincts shouted at her to get the baby away from the tiger.

Byakuen made a growling sound, but Kokuen-Oh purred and held Byakuen down with a paw that could have easily crushed any human. In the end, Byakuen gave up and lay his head on the floor to allow the attention.

Little Lai, innocent of any danger, squirmed off Nasty's lap and landed on her feet on the floor. She stood there a moment, wobbled, then steadied herself. She took a few ginger steps towards the pair on the floor then fell down onto her hands and knees and started crawling.

Byakuen watched her with a pout that made Nasty put a hand to her mouth to hide a smile. He looked so envious. He had yet to figure out how to walk on only two legs and could barely crawl. He tilted his head enough to watch Lai's approach and rested his cheek on his crossed arms.

The baby laughed when she reached Byakuen and grabbed at his hair. She used his hair to pull herself up and, still laughing, slapped one hand on Kokuen-Oh's face.

"He won't hurt her," Kay stood in the doorway of the parlor with a faint smile as she watched the tigers and Lai. "They're both used to small children." Kay bowed elegantly to Nasty, looking as if she'd practiced the greeting many times, before stepping into the room. "When I was very small, they used to let me ride on their backs. Good morning, Nasutei-san." Kay said, her voice soft and yet strangely strong. "You look tense. You're worried for your brother?"

Kokuen-Oh did nothing about Lai but continue grooming Byakuen.

"And the others. Noin's one of my closest friends and Quatre's one of my cousins." They'd never been close, though no fault of their. Their father's hadn't gotten along well. There had been some family meetings where she'd exchanged a few words with her younger cousin, but those times had been few and far between. However, from what little she knew, she'd liked him from what she knew of him.

Treize didn't trust Quatre, but Treize trusted very few people. He had once spoken of Quatre's with a great deal of respect but warned Nasty to keep the family relationship quiet. "It wouldn't be good if it were known we were related - for them or us."

It was politics, of course. They didn't exactly hide the family relationship, but they never went out of their way to advertise it.

"Never underestimate him," Treize had once warned Nasty. "If I ever feared that someone would take over the world, besides me, it would be him."

Nasty looked at Lai, tugging on Kokuen-Oh's ear, then at Kay who looked uncomfortable in Nasty's blue jeans and t-shirt. Both were too big for Kay, but they were far more appropriate than the filthy outfit she'd worn when she'd arrived. Nasty wondered how long they would be staying. She liked having the house full.

"He doesn't like being dressed like a ningen," Kay said, drawing Nasty out of her thoughts. She regarded Byakuen dressed in a pair of Treize's trousers and nothing else. They'd barely gotten him to be still long enough to put the trousers on him.

Nasty laughed. "Mama Fan said it wasn't proper to have a naked full-grown man in the house with women and children - demon tiger or not."

Kay put her hand to her mouth and laughed softly.

"You don't have to stand, you know. Come and sit with me." Nasty patted the seat beside her.

Kay bowed low, again, before she started for the sofa.

"Ah… you really don't have to do that."

Nasty had never seen a girl who could walk go gracefully. Kay was still just a child, but she held herself with a more regal bearing than any noble Nasty had ever met.

_In a few years, her brothers will be beating off the boys. Rajura, especially. Can't see him letting any boy get his hot little paws on his baby sister._ It was almost enough to make Nasty laugh, even if it wasn't all that funny. Rajura was extremely protective, especially after the disaster that had separated his family.

Sitting though their leaving taking had been anything but fun.

**Flash back-**

"What is it?" Kay didn't so much as turn to look at Rajura. She stood beside Mama Fan at the sink and dried the dishes that Mama Fan had just washed.

Rajura frowned at her back. "We're leaving for a…"

"Leaving?!" Kay whirled around and dropped her drying towel and stared at Rajura with fear blatant in her eyes.

Rajura's frown deepened and he stepped closer to her. "We're going on a rescue mission. It won't take us long. You be a good girl while I'm gone."

Kay closed her mouth and her face tightened.

It was like winter suddenly moved in, the cold that washed through the room at Kay's glare. She turned her back on him and put her hands on the edge of the sink. "Just leave."

Rajura stayed where he was. "Kay?"

Kay was quiet a moment. Her shoulders tensed. "I was waiting for you."

The terrible silence made Nasty tightened her arms around Lai.

Rajura went to Kay and put his hand on her shoulder.

"I waited for you. I knew you'd come." Kay shrugged his hand off. "I screamed for you. I cried. I was so scared, but I knew you'd come." Her head lowered. "You didn't. No one did."

Mama Fan didn't say a word, though her eyes did keep darting between the two of them, like she really wanted to say something, but knew when to keep her mouth shut.

"Kay… " Rajura came forward and put his hand on her shoulder.

Again, Kay pulled away from him. She slipped an arm around Mama Fan's broad waist and leaned against her. "Everything went dark and that... thing came into my room." Kay's fingers were playing distractedly with the strings of Mama Fan's apron. "It made me do bad things." Kay choked as she spoke. "It made me LIKE doing bad things. I thought you'd never come for me and it made me hate you!" Kay wailed, unable to hold it back anymore, and buried her face in Mama Fan's side.

Rajura went down to his knees and pulled Kay fiercely into a tight embrace. "My sweet Kayura. I... we would never abandon you." He began petting her hair lovingly and rocking her slightly as she cried. "We couldn't get you because we couldn't find you. I'm so sorry. None of us ever wanted you to be hurt."

Kay pulled away from him and dried her tears with a wipe of her sleeve across her face. Her cool expression came back as she backed away from him until she was next to Mama Fan again. Kay bent and picked up her drying towel with shaking hands. "You should go now."

**End Flashback-**

"What are you staring at?" Kay sat with her hands folded on her knees and her feet held daintily together. "Do I look so odd in these clothes?"

"No. You look fine. I was just… thinking."

"About what, if I may ask?"

"You. Your brothers."

Kay looked back down at her lap. "Do you suppose they'll be back soon?"

"As soon as they can."

Kay's hands tightened on her knees. "I want… Mama Sh'ten died. It was to rescue me. He's not coming back."

Nasty felt a pang for the girl. "No. He's not. I can't think of anything really comforting. My parents died when Treize and I were very young - younger than you - and I know that nothing anyone said helped. It felt like my whole world had collapsed. Time will help."

"I don't want to wait. I want to stop hurting now. But," Kay looked at Nasty with watery eyes. "I'm afraid that if it stops hurting, I'll forget. I don't want to forget. I just want to stop crying."

Nasty put both arms around Kay. "Crying isn't a bad thing."

The phone very suddenly and Kay jumped a little, quickly wiping her eyes dry, as if afraid to be caught crying.

Nasty reached over to the side table and answered the telephone. "Hello. Kushranada residence."

"Hello. May I speak with Yagiyu Nasutei or Treize Kushranada?"

"This is Yagiyu Nasutei speaking. How can I help you?"

"Yagiyu-san. I'm sorry to have to say this, but I'm Police Inspector Wong. I need you to come down to the police station."

"Is there a problem?" Nasty bit her lip and wondered if there had been a mistake with Une's body. She hadn't given it much thought after the cleaning crew had arrived to take care of the situation - they so rarely made mistakes that there was no reason to worry about it. "Perhaps this is something that can be taken care of over the telephone?"

"I'm afraid not, Yagiyu-san. I really would prefer it if you could come to the station. Do you have someone to drive you or would you like an officer to come pick you up."

"No. That's alright. I can get there myself." Treize had enough cars hanging around that Nasty could borrow one. For that matter, she could probably steal one and he'd never realize. "I'll be down shortly."

When she hung up, Nasty noticed Mama Fan standing a few feet away, waiting. "Is something wrong, Nasty, dear?"

"No, mama." Nasty stood up. "I need to go into the city for a little while. Will you be alright here alone?"

Mama Fan nodded and smiled cheerily. "Oh, we'll be just fine. Don't you worry. When you get back, dinner should be ready if those boys have returned."

"You will be safe, won't you?" Kay stood closely by Mama Fan's side. For all the love and attention her brothers showered her with, the girl had never known a mother, or any woman to look up to. It seemed that she'd adopted Mama Fan. "That wasn't a good call. You looked worried."

"It's probably nothing. Certainly, it's nothing I can't handle. I'll be back very shortly. While I'm gone, the guard will be in earshot. Yell if you need anything and he'll come running."

**Zechs-**

Zechs carried Noin out of the apartment building and passed the waiting boys. He still didn't entirely understand what was going on, but so long as Noin was safe, explanations could wait.

Treize hurried ahead to open the car door for Zechs. It was an awkward fit to slid into the car with Noin, but there were only two seats.

"I can walk," Noin protested, though her eyes kept drifting closed. "Not… not hurt that bad."

"Of course not." Treize told her, pleasantly. "Just sit still a moment. There." He fastened the seatbelt over both Zechs and Noin. "We'll have you home and in bed before you know it."

Noin scowled at him, but she was asleep before Treize got behind the driver's wheel.

Treize smiled fondly at her and brushed the hair away from her eyes. "You knew about that boy's talent for healing, didn't you?"

"Yes." Zechs met Treize's eyes without a hint of guilt. "Noin asked me not to tell you. She's afraid for him."

"Like any good big sister would be. I understand." He drove far slower than Noin, even slower than Zechs. "Sensible, not slow," Treize had corrected when Zechs had mentioned it, once. "I drive sensibly unlike you two maniacs."

They drove in silence for quite a while and Zechs spent that time looking out the window at the armored boys running alongside of the car. Magic was something he was quite unprepared to deal with. It also brought up another difficulty. All these people who'd found their way to Treize's home would have to be housed and Zechs wasn't entirely certain he wanted all of them living at Treize's house.

_Noin's brother will take her home and he'll probably want to take Ryou, also. Ryou will want to take Duo and Duo will want to take Heero. Mama Fan will go back to her home and take Xiu, Wufei, and Lai. Possibly Shin. Quatre will go to his home and take Touma and Trowa._ That still left the three young men as well as the little girl, Kay. Zechs had no doubts that kindly Mama Fan would take in Kay, but he wasn't sure about the young men.

"Tomorrow General Septum is coming for a _friendly little visit_." Treize gripped the steering wheel tighter.

Zechs frowned at the sudden announcement. "When were you planning to tell me?"

"We've been rather busy." Treize smirked without taking his eyes off the road. "Between my house being demolished by magical people, tigers infesting my current home, kidnappings, and more pleasant pastimes," his smirked grew broader. "I quite forgot about Septum. Forgive me. Besides, I wasn't informed until a short time ago, myself. It won't be easy to explain a house full of three young men, ten boys, one little girl, one Chinese mama, one toddler, and two tigers. Not to mention that one of my soldiers is wounded and I won't be able to explain how she got hurt without betraying Quatre."

"We'll manage," Zechs desperately tried to squash the fear Septum's visit always inspired. He cuddled Noin a little closer, as if she were a teddy bear. Treize was right to be worried about Septum's visit. The man despised Treize and would do anything to spoil Treize's work, even though he didn't know what Treize was trying to accomplish with OZ. "We always do."

"Yes." Treize didn't sound happy. "Somehow, we always scrape by, but I don't like to rely on hope and luck. I'm so close."

"Tell me what you want me to do." Zechs held Noin a little closer. He'd been hoping that she'd be able to rest at Treize's home where they could keep a closer eye on her, but it couldn't be helped if she needed to be moved somewhere else.

"There's no way to hide everyone." Treize said morosely. "I can't possibly hide everyone in time for his visit and I KNOW that over-inflated ego with a mustache is going to use any excuse he can find to weaken my position with the Alliance."

"Why do you have to hide anything?" Zechs asked. "It's no crime to have house guests and you can just say they're friends, or friends of mine or Noin. We can let the tigers out into the forest behind your home. I'm sure they'll be happy enough for the hour or so before Septum leaves."

Treize shook his head. "Septum will find some way to make it look bad in the eyes of the Alliance. You know how he is." Treize suddenly slapped the steering wheel with the palm of his hand. "Damn it! I NEED the Alliance if I'm going to strengthen OZ. If any one of those hypocritical old men gets the idea that I'm anything more than a glorified talking head, everything will be ruined."

"We could always kill Septum." Zechs kept his face serious. "We'll tell the Alliance it was a tragic mishap with a blender."

"What?!" Treize asked in disbelief, though his expression lightened somewhat.

"Or we could say it was overexposure to cottage cheese."

Treize glanced at Zechs out of the corner of his eye. His lips twitched. "Are you feeling alright"  
"I'm fine. You wanted a way to get rid of this Septum problem and I'm trying to help. Let's see... we could call a plumber, they usually take care of septic problems and this isn't to far a stretch. He certainly gives off a rather bad smell."

Treize snickered.

"Oh!" Zechs dramatically put a hand over his heart. "He was so young to die! That mustache wax was the end of him. I always told him it was bad for his health, but he wouldn't listen!"

Treize finally laughed out loud and slapped Zechs' shoulder. "Stop it! I'm driving! Do you mind leaving the comedy for another day?"

"That all depends on if you're finished moping or not. I promise we'll figure something out, just relax a bit. Soon everyone's going to be safe at home and we'll go back to worrying about politics." Zechs knew there was going to be more complications to the situation than that, but he really wanted Treize to relax for a little while. The man was constantly shouldering far to much responsibility.

"I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me nervous, you know."

"I can imagine." The last time Septum had chosen to pay Treize a visit he'd given the polite suggestion that Treize's hair was too long. The next day, Treize had gotten orders to have it cut to a more respectable length. "Honestly, what do they think it wrong now? Are you wearing your boots too high? Maybe they think you're using the wrong toothpaste. Have you ever had a private life?"

Treize snorted. "Yes. Before Grandmother Kushranada took me from Grandfather Yagiyu. There's a day I'll never forget. That's not what I'm talking about, though. Look out your window." Treize gestured with his head to either side of the car. Outside, running easily, were the four armored boys who'd come back with them. On Zechs' side of the car were Shin and Touma. On the other side were Xiu and Ryou with Duo riding on Ryou's back. "It is physically impossible for any human to move like that, yet they're hardly trying."

It was true. The boys, while they ran, were talking amiably and they didn't even look winded. "It's also impossible to summon lightening, but Anubisu did it. I don't suppose they'd just tell us what's going on if we just asked them, would they?"

"I highly doubt it." Treize almost smiled at that. "There's no science that can explain what's happening with them. I want to know what they can do and what they intend to do with all that power. That boy, Duo, still hates me and there's no way to prove I had nothing to do with his orphanage destruction or the death of all those children. My signature WAS on the orders. I didn't sign it, but they have plenty of rubber stamps with my signature they use when they need to do something and not take any blame for it. Duo has a lot of influence over Ryou and those others, so he could convince them I'm the enemy and then I'll have another war to fight. I don't want to fight children."

Zechs didn't like seeing Treize like this. He looked terribly tired. Worn out from things he honestly couldn't control. "I wish I knew how to help you."

This time, Treize did smile. "You do help. You're here and you've never doubted me. That's the one thing I really need."

**Shin-**

Kushranada's car sped easily along the road, but it wasn't hard to keep up. Shin almost laughed at how easy it was. It was almost frighteningly easy. Shin bit his lip as he ran and stole glances at his friends. He could still feel them inside of himself. Like a background humming, they were always with him. Even when he slept and fell into deep dreams, he could feel them.

"What are you thinking about?" Touma moved closer to Shin and had to yell to be heard over the rush of wind. "You look so serious. We won. We got the girl and Kitty back."

"No. Anubisu got her back. We weren't needed at all. What happens to us, now?" Shin paused then looked away from Touma. BY THE WAY, I'M GOING TO OFFER NAAZA MY BED.

Shock ran through their whole group.

Touma staggered and almost fell, but quickly caught up with Shin again. YOU WHAT?!

HE'S LONELY! Shin defended his desire to help Naaza. HE NEEDS SOMEONE TO LEAN ON AND WITHOUT SH'TEN HE DOESN'T HAVE ANYONE. He could feel waves of hurt and anger rolling off Touma and Xiu, enflamed that Shin would turn to someone else.

HE HAS RAJURA AND ANUBISU! Touma said, almost angrily. THEY BOTH LOVE HIM, YOU CAN'T MISS THAT!

BUT THEY'VE BEEN MAKING EYES AT SEIJI'S SISTER AND NAAZA FEELS EXCLUDED. HE CAN'T BRING HIMELF TO BE COMFORTABLE WITH A NINGEN AND THAT'S HOW HE SEES NOIN.

Seiji, from where he was still with Heero at the apartment, showed a brief flare of anger and distrust. It was no laughing matter. He took the perceived threat to his sister very seriously. Ryou, carrying Duo on his back, sent soothing thoughts to Seji and the anger slowly eased.

NAAZA CAN STILL GO TO RAJURA AND ANUBISU. HE DOESN'T NEED TO TAKE YOU AWAY FROM US. Xiu's thoughts were possessive and jealous. He apparently didn't mind sharing Shin with Touma, or even Ryou or Seiji, but anyone else was unacceptable. RAJURA AND ANUBISU HAVE BOTH OFFERED HIM COMFORT AND HE'S PUSHED THEM AWAY. HE DOESN'T WANT TO BE HELPED.

Shin held firm. HE'S NOT TRYING TO TAKE ME AWAY FROM YOU, I'M GOING TO OFFER A SHOULDER TO CRY ON, THAT'S ALL. A WARM BED AND SOMEONE THAT HE CAN TALK TO. HE NEEDS SOMEONE. IF HE DOESN'T WANT TO ACCEPT, THAT'S FINE, BUT IF HE DOES, I WANTED YOU TO KNOW THAT HE'S WELCOME IN MY BED.

WHAT DOES HAVING A SHOULDER TO CRY ON HAVE TO DO WITH SEX? Touma's face was scrunched up in anger.

WHO SAID ANYTHING ABOUT SEX? Shin asked. I JUST SAID I'D GIVE HIM A PLACE TO SLEEP! YOU ALL KNOW THAT THEY'RE THE SAME AS WE ARE. PHYSICAL CONTACT MAKES US MORE COMFORTABLE. HE'LL BE HAPPIER WITH SOMEONE TO SLEEP WITH, THAT'S ALL. Shin said. AS FOR SEX, THAT'S BETWEEN NAAZA AND MYSELF AND IF I WANT TO, YOU'VE GOT NO RIGHT TO OBJECT! YOU KNOW YOU HAVE MY HEART. Though his words were strong, Shin waited nervously for Touma and Xiu to respond.  
YOU'RE LEAVING US JUST BECAUSE YOU FEEL BAD FOR THE GUY? Xiu asked in disbelief.

OF COURSE I'M NOT LEAVING YOU! Shin shouted, insulted. HE NEEDS SOMEONE OR HE'S GOING TO LOSE HIS MIND. HE'S STILL VERY MUCH IN LOVE WITH SH'TEN. HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF TOUMA AND I SUDDENLY DIED, XIU? OR, TOUMA, WHAT IF YOU WERE IN THE SAME SITUATION? YOU'D WANT SOMEONE TO LEAN ON, TOO.

Xiu shook his head. I CAN'T SAY I'M HAPPY ABOUT IT, BUT IF YOU REALLY WANT TO.  
I GUESS WE CAN ACCEPT IT. Touma added in, sounding just as unhappy as Xiu. SO LONG AS YOU DON'T FORGET ABOUT US AND LEAVE OUR BED COLD PERMENANTLY. I GUESS WE CAN DEAL.

YEAH. IT'S NOT LIKE WE CAN CONTROL WHAT YOU DO, OR ANYTHING.

Shin beamed in happiness. OH, THANKS FOR UNDERSTANDING!

I NEVER SAID I UNDERSTOOD OR THAT I WAS HAPPY. I JUST SAID I'D ACCEPT YOUR CHOICE. But Xiu grinned. BESIDES, I CAN'T WAIT TO TELL CATHY THAT YOU'VE BEEN SLEEPING WITH THREE GUYS. I'M SURE SHE'LL BE INTERESTED TO KNOW THAT YOU'VE TURNED INTO A TRAMP WHILE ON EARTH.

Shin paled. YOU WOULDN'T.

Shu just smiled. YOU LITTLE SLUT.

OH, DAMN. YOU WOULD.

**A short while later-  
Nasutei-**

"We need you to identify a body, Yagiyu-San." The officer that met Nasty at the police station was polite and profession. He bowed slightly before leading her to the morgue. "The basement, I'm afraid. We aren't haven't had the new wing built, yet. Are you certain you'll be alright? We can wait for your brother to be contacted."

Nasty shook her head. "I'm a big girl, officer. I can handle this."

"As you wish. Please, follow me." They went through a pair of heavy metal doors and down a windowless stairway. Only one flight down and he led her into a narrow, quiet hallway.

Nasty felt herself growing more and more nervous with each step. Only the sounds of Nasty's shoes clicking with every step on the tile floor broke the silence.

The morgue wasn't as quiet as Nasty had thought it would be. There were several people in white lab coats talking to each other as they worked on cadavers, casually chatting while slicing up bodies. The smell of chemicals and bleach nearly made Nasty flee from the room, but the police officer looked at her just them.

"Yagiyu-san? Are you ready?"

"Yes, of course." Nasty steeled herself.

The table he took her to was in the back of the morgue, left alone and presumably untouched by the morgue workers. The police officer took a hold of the white sheet and gave her a serious look. "Please tell me if this person is familiar to you, Yagiyu-san." He pulled it back only just enough for Nasty to see the face of the dead man, no doubt trying to be as gentle as he could for a girl.  
Nasty stared down at the face, but said nothing for a moment.

"Yagiyu-San?"

Nasty felt her whole world reel. _Grandfather. He promised to give me away when I got married. He said he wanted to hold his first grandchild. He always wanted me to help him write that book and I was too busy._

"Yagiyu-San?"

A soft touch to her elbow startled Nasty back to reality. "Yes. I'm fine. This is my grandfather, Professor Yagiyu. What happened?"

"I'm sorry for your loss, miss. Your grandfather was apparently shot in the back at point blank range in his home, Yagiyu-San. We've had forensic experts all over the crime scene, but we've come up with very little. Do you have any idea who would have done this? Anyone with a motive or a grudge against your grandfather?"

Nasty shook her head. "No. No one who comes to mind, anyway. Does anyone else know about this?"

"No, Yagiyu-San. We thought it best to inform family first."

Nasty nodded, appreciating the consideration. "You said you've found very little at his house. That implies that you did find something."

"Yes, Yagiyu-San. I'm afraid it's still under investigation, but... " He pulled a black glove in a plastic bag out of his pocket and showed it to Nasty. "Did you're grandfather own anything like this?"

"No." Nasty answered promptly. "Grandfather only ever wore white gloves. This... " She looked a little closer. "Is an Alliance issue glove, isn't it?"

"I'm sorry, Yagiyu-San. That's apart of our investigation and I can't tell you anything at this time." He quickly shoved the glove back into his pocket.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" Nasty asked, fixing the image of the black glove in her mind.

He frowned, replacing the white sheet over her grandfather's face, as if he were puzzled by her reaction to all of this. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine. If you don't need me for anything else, I need to go." Nasty began walking away as soon as he'd said he was done. "I'll have all arrangements made for him by tomorrow morning. Please, call me if you need anything else." She walked stiffly out of the morgue, ignoring the stares of the morgue workers who'd begun to pay attention to her after she hadn't broken down in hysterical tears.

"Talk about cold." One of them muttered just before the door swung closed behind Nasty.

In the lonely corridor outside the morgue, Nasty's step faltered. She paused and leaned one hand against the wall.

She could still feel his arms around her when Treize had been taken away and she'd tried to chase after Grandmother Kushranada's car. She could hear him singing to her that first night when she could do nothing but cry. She remembered eating popcorn with him during late-night movies.

With a little shake, Nasty stood straight and composed her face.

On the front steps of the police station Nasty stopped short and blinked at the sharp eyed reporters and their camera crews.

"Yagiyu-San! Is it true that your grandfather was murdered?"

"Will this have any impact with the Alliance and how your brother runs it?"

"Are there plans for revenge? How will he find the criminal?"

"How do you feel Yagiyu-San?"

"Does general Kushranada know about the murder, yet?"

Nasty stared fixedly ahead. She stood on the top step of the police station's entrance, and waited very patiently for the questions to stop.

After a long wait, everyone fell silent and waited expectantly, holding their breaths.

One step at a time, Nasty made her way down the steps, knowing full well that no one here would dare to lay hands on her for fear of Treize. As Nasty came down the stairs, the reporters, photographers, and cameramen backed down also, giving her plenty of space. Treize's car was just a head of her. Just a few more feet and she'd be safe.

**Dorothy-**

_Beautiful! Simply beautiful!_ Dorothy watched the drama from a short distance down the street. Nasty's pale face turned ashen when she saw the reporters. _Treize will kill simply everyone just to make her happy._

Dorothy was so happy that she'd alerted the reporters about the tragedy. She waved a hand wildly and called out, "Oh, Nasutei!"

**Nasty-**

Nasty turned, startled at the familiar and unwanted voice. "Hello, Dorothy." Nasty forced a polite smile for her cousin when Dorothy appeared out of nowhere and grabbed her in a tight hug. The hug left Nasty feeling cold.

The reports, who still hovered around, took full advantage of this and started peppering Dorothy with questions.

Dorothy kept one arm around Nasty, but turned to the reporter with a disapproving frown. "You really are horrible! You should all leave her alone so she can grieve." Dorothy hugged Nasty again, but kept her eyes on the reporters. "Nasutei was very close to her grandfather and she's heartbroken, even if she is keeping it all inside. I tell you, once Treize get finds out about this, there's going to be Hell to pay! He'll never take this laying down!"

Instead of pushing away from her least favorite relative, Nasty pulled Dorothy closer. "Why don't you come home with me, Dorothy? I need someone to talk to." She made her voice sound small and vulnerable, knowing that anyone who saw her like this would think it was from sadness and they'd feel pity for her and Treize. Dorothy had done enough damage with her little speech.

Dorothy agreed and they both climbed into Treize's car, leaving the reporters behind without another word.

"I just heard about grandfather Yagiyu. I'm so sorry, you must be just devastated!" Dorothy said, but she didn't look sorry. There wasn't a hint of concern or tears in her eyes.

_You sure want to smile, though, don't you?_ Nasty thought bitterly, seeing her cousin's lips twinge out of the corner of her eyes. "Thank you for your concern. I don't understand how you already know, though, or those reporters for that matter. The police said I was the first one they informed."

Dorothy gave her a sly grin. "I have my sources. As for those reporters, I really don't know. I suppose some awful person must have leaked the information. That's bad, you know. Why, if Treize reacts badly, it could hurt his career. But I was wondering where Treize is. I was sure he'd be with you."

"Treize is away at the moment." Nasty frowned. There was something wrong with the whole situation.

"What a shame." Dorothy said. "Well, you can let me out here, Nasutei." She pointed to a street corner. "You're well enough away from those reporters that they won't catch you until you get home and if you're lucky you'll beat them to the gates. I suggest you have extra security installed to keep them out. This is going to be the biggest news in the world for a little while. Unless, Treize does something... interesting, in which case this could be news for a long, long time."

There were no reporters waiting at the house, thankfully.

Nasty left the garage and walked around the house instead of going straight in. She really didn't want to have to answer any of the questions that Mama Fan would have. Nasty went all around the house and through the back garden until she came to her bedroom window. With a bit of effort, Nasty managed to pry open her window and climb into her room.

The first thing she did was pick up her telephone and dial the secure number Treize had given her for the head of the house's security. "Be on guard. Let no one onto the property without my express permission. No. Treize will stand behind me on this. I'll assume all responsibility. There could be reporters lurking around. Keep them away from the house. Don't let our guests outside. It's not safe." She licked her dry lips. "My grandfather has been murdered. The police don't know who the murderer is or where they are. No one gets in. Understand?"

The soldier on the other end of the telephone snapped his understanding and Nasty hung up the telephone. She closed her window and locked it before drawing the shade.

Once she was completely alone and certain that she wouldn't be interrupted Nasty fell on her bed and began sobbing.

**To be continued...**


	34. Moving On

The lyrics of _I'm Moving On_ are not mine. I don't remember who wrote or sang it, sorry. A lovely song that always makes me think of Sh'ten choice to leave the Youja Kai. 

**Chapter 34: Burdened with Pain**

**Treize-**

There were guards posted at the entrance of the driveway when Treize pulled up the front gate of his home. When Treize stopped the car and the armored boys stopped running, one young guard cautiously approached. He was out of uniform, dressed in tanned trousers and a plain white shirt, but held his rifle firmly. When he saw who was driving the car, he stiffened and snapped a quick salute.

"Sir! Forgive the stop."

"At ease," Treize returned the salute after unrolling his window. "What's going on lieutenant Barker?"

Zechs leaned over to look out the window, too. "Are you planning to keep mister Kushranada out of his own home? Why are you out of uniform?"

"General Marquis." Lieutenant Barker saluted Zechs, sharply. "You'll have to excuse me, sir, but..." Lieutenant Barker raised a small hand radio to his mouth and spoke. "Yagiyu-san? Your brother has arrived with general Marquis, major Noin, and five young men. Is it alright to let them in?" He paused, obviously listening to the answer. "Yes. Thank you, ma'am."

Treize frowned. "What's this all about, Lieutenant?"

"General," The young lieutenant saluted again. "I'm sorry, sir, but I think you'll have to ask your sister that. I was told not to give out any information to anyone." He looked uncomfortable. "You did give orders that we should obey her as we would you… "

"Yes. It's alright." Treize rubbed his forehead even as lieutenant Barker eyed the armored boys standing around the car. "Ignore them. You're not in trouble. Answer general Marquis' question. Your uniform?"

"Your sister requested that we wear civilian clothes so we wouldn't stand out to much."

"What's going on?" Treize turned to find Xiu glaring at the lieutenant. He should have guessed that they wouldn't stay quiet for long. "Did something happen?"

"Yeah." Duo spoke up, still sitting on Ryou's back with his arms around his brother's neck. "Is someone hurt?"

Lieutenant Barker did as Treize had said and ignored the questions. He raised his arm, waving a signal. "Go ahead, sir. I'm sorry I can't tell you anything more."

**Duo-**

"Do you suppose Kay's alright?" Duo asked worriedly. "Why have they got all these soldiers?" He was speaking right into Ryou's ear while hugging Ryou's neck tightly.

"I hope so. She's been though so much." Ryou's face darkened.

"If she's been hurt, we'll get revenge for her." Duo told Ryou, firmly. "If we can fight a demon army for her, we can take on any stupid ningen who'd want to get their hands on her." Duo meant every word. There was absolutely nothing more important to him than his family and he'd do anything to protect them. Ryou and Xiu looked at each other.

"What is it?" Duo asked, wishing, not for the first time, that he could hear the silent conversations his brother was now privy to.

"Xiu's worried about his mama and his baby sister. He doesn't like all these strangers around."

"I don't blame him. They all work for the Alliance." Duo's voice turned hateful at the word. "They kill people. They killed Sister Helen."

"I don't think they're the same as the Alliance." Ryou said doubtfully. "Don't the Alliance soldiers dress in uniforms"

"Doesn't matter." Duo growled, looking at Treize who was in his car again. "Treize runs things. It's Treize's fault."

**Treize-**

Mama Fan met them at the front door after being let in by one of the OZ soldiers. While they waited for the guard to call Nasty and ask permission to let them in, Treize noticed it wasn't just a few soldiers around the house. He saw shadowy movements around in the windows, behind curtains. There were two soldiers on the upper balcony and several people making rounds around the house. It wasn't all that unusual, his men were always somewhere around, but they never actually stopped HIS car!

The front door swung open and mama Fan stood there, her normally cheery face was drawn and sad.  
"Mama, what's going on?" Xiu went forward and hugged her. "Is everyone okay?"

"Oh, baby." Mama hugged him back. "Why don't you take your friends into the living room. Ryou, dear, your tiger friend has turned back into a tiger a few minutes ago. I'm not sure how, but he seems happier. Kay's waiting for you and Duo." Mama Fan spoke with a nervous tremble in her voice and twisting her apron in her hands. She gave the still sleeping Noin a glance. "Why don't you take that young lady to go lay down, Zechs."

Xiu nodded slowly. "Um... sure, mama." Xiu closed his eyes and the armor he wore vanished, changing into his normal clothes.

Mama Fan shook her head at the transformation and then at the other three as they changed. "Not right now, but very soon, I want to know exactly what's going on, young man." Mama Fan looked around. "Where's everyone else? Xiu, honey, where's your cousin?"

"They'll be here soon, mama. There was something they had to take care of."

"Alright." She made shooing gestures for everyone to get inside the house but when Treize made to walk passed her, Mama Fan took his arm. "Come talk with me a bit, dear."

"Should I be worried?" Treize asked, letting himself be drawn away. "I really must have a word with Nasty."

Mama Fan patted his hand and pulled him towards the library, away from where the others were headed. "Nasty's a bit busy at the moment. I need to tell you something, dear." She waited until he was sitting down before closing the doors and sitting next to him on the couch. Gently, Mama Fan took Treize's hand in her own and held it securely. "Nasty asked me to tell you what happened and she wanted to make sure you stayed calm."

"You're making me nervous, ma'am," Treize said. "Why don't you just say what you have to say"

Mama Fan swallowed hard. "Nasty was called by the police a few hours ago and...your grandfather Yagiyu has been murdered."

Treize froze. _Murdered? No, that can't be right. Grandfather hardly ever left his house, he never did anything to draw attention to himself._ "There must be a mistake... "

"No." Mama Fan shook her head. "There's no mistake. Nasty went to the morgue and identified his body."

Treize had never been as close to his grandfather as Nasty was, he was barely allowed to see the man. However, Treize had respected and liked his grandfather. Treize stood up quickly, but Mama Fan didn't let go of his hand. "Excuse me, ma'am, but I've got to see Nasty." When he tried to walk away, Mama Fan kept a hold of his shaking hand.

"Treize, dear," She said seriously. "When Nasty came back she snuck into her room and cried for a long time. I heard her car drive up and I watched her creep around the house before sneaking into her room. I don't know how well she's taking this except that when she did come out, she told me that I was to stay inside with the girls and she spoke with your guards. The phone's been ringing off the hook, reporters and such asking all sorts of questions. I won't pretend to understand what's going on, but," She stood up and touched his cheek. "I know what it's like to lose loved ones. My shoulder's good for crying on."

Treize nodded, but didn't even bother forcing a smile for her. He had the feeling she would know it wasn't genuine. "Thank you, ma'am."

Treize found Nasty in his study. The room was darkened with the shades closed and the only light coming from the greenish glow of the computer screen. The only sound Treize could hear was the tapping of the computer keyboard.

"Nasty?"

Nasty's back was towards him as she typed and Treize couldn't see her face. "Yes?"

"Mama Fan told me what happened." Treize walked up behind her and hugged his sister, but she didn't stop typing. "I'm so sorry, Nasty."

"I'm sorry if your people inconvenienced you, but I gave them orders not to allow anyone in without permission." Nasty kept her eyes on the computer screen as she spoke. "I have reason to believe it wasn't just some random murder."

Treize frowned. "Tell me."

Instead of answering, Nasty walked away from the computer and to the small television Treize kept in his study. She turned it on to the news and the biggest story seemed to be their grandfather's death. Treize watched intently the scene of Nasty walking out of police station and the reporters accosting her. He watched with growing dread when Dorothy appeared out of nowhere and felt sick to his stomach at her words.

"How long has this been broadcasting?" Treize asked when it was finally over.

"Almost three hours now, since it happened." Nasty answered, watching him from where she stood. "I wasn't in time to stop the broadcast so the damage has already been done."

Treize ran a hand through his hair. "The timing of this couldn't be worse. Septum is coming tomorrow for his annual inspection to make sure I haven't done anything stupid to endanger the image of the Alliance. He's sure to have seen Dorothy's little scene and all this security's going to give him something to sink his teeth into when he arrives."

"I don't think it was an accident that Dorothy's timing was so bad."

"Oh?"

"The police told me I was the first person told about grandfather's death, yet the reporters were waiting for me when I got out. Dorothy was also right there - waiting. I really don't think the police would have been stupid enough to let this leak out, they're all too afraid of you to risk getting you angry. I believe Dorothy knew something about grandfather's death."

"Or that she killed him herself?" Treize could hear the accusation in his sister's voice. "I don't doubt that Dorothy would have done it. She's certainly ruthless enough." Treize had never trusted Dorothy, to be honest. She was their cousin, on their father's side. Treize and Nasty's father had a brother, Quatre's dad, and a sister, Dorothy's mother. Though he'd often seen Dorothy throughout their childhood, Treize could never bring himself to like her.

"There was a glove from an Alliance officer's uniform found at the scene of the crime."

"It would be odd for the Alliance to attack an old man who posed no threat to them. He wasn't involved with any kind of rebellious activity and he wasn't prominent enough to affect them. Stranger, still that they'd send someone stupid enough to leave such a hard piece of evidence. It's also hard to believe it was a random killing. He lived almost twenty miles from the nearest town and had no close neighbors. The simple fact that he's our grandfather makes it a very suspicious coincidence."

Nasty sighed. "I was almost hoping you'd see it a different way than I had. That glove alone makes me think it was planted there. At the very least, Dorothy must have known about grandfather being killed and said nothing to the police."

"And, at the very most, she killed him," Treize answered bleakly. "I want to know if she did it on her own or if she was working for someone. If she's working with some kind of conspiracy, I don't want anymore loose ends."

"Who do you think she could be working for?" Nasty asked. "Dorothy was never the type to follow orders."

"I have plenty of enemies within the Alliance and out of it. People like Septum who dislike me for my popularity and people like Duo who believe I've done terrible things. This would be a very good way to upset me. I don't think it would be hard for anyone to persuade Dorothy to kill. She's the sort of person who'd do it just for the sake of the thrill."

Nasty was quiet for a moment before giving Treize a cautious look. "You don't mind me using your soldiers, do you? I was a little worried about our guests. If someone is targeting our family, I'd rather not have Mama Fan, Kay, or Lai get in the way."

Treize smiled reassuringly. "I think you did just the right thing and I'm pleased that you trusted my men enough to use them when I wasn't around. If there is someone trying to get at me though my family, I don't want you left unprotected."

A small radio next to the computer buzzed and Nasty quickly went to answer it. "Yes?"

"Yagiyu-san, there's a man here claiming to be General Septum of the Alliance and that General Kushranada is expecting him."

Treize wanted to groan. Septum was a day early! "Let him in. Let's get this over with."

**Touma-**

Zechs set Noin down on the couch and Ryou immediately went to a much happier Byakuen who was a tiger again. Everyone made themselves as comfortable as possible in Treize's home, relaxing on the comfortable chairs, but Touma was having a hard time getting his mind of Quatre and the fact that his brother now seemed to be possessed by the spirit of Ryou's mama. To see Quatre licking his own blood off his fingers and nearly purring when he spoke about torturing doctor J had been horrifying.

_It's so weird, I don't know what Rashid's going to think about all this._ That thought made Touma want to slap himself on the forehead. _Damn! I'll have to call Rashid and Abdul, they're gonna be worried sick. Well, at least this whole mess is over with. Once Kitty gets back we can go home. No more battles or fights. I don't even know if I can tell them about this yoroi stuff. They'll believe me if I show it to them and I don't think they'd be at all worried. After all, they both wanted me to be a fighter in the manaques._ Touma rolled the crystal orb around in his hand, feeling the cool aura that seemed to radiate from it. _I don't even know how this thing works and if I didn't see it for myself, I'd never would have believed that it even existed. It's just not possible. But it is._

"Who's that?" Duo was looking out a window at something and Touma went to see what he was looking at. The man who'd stopped them at the gates, Lieutenant Barker, had stopped a large, expensive looking black car and seemed to be arguing with the man in the car.

Zechs, just getting of the phone with a doctor, came to look, also. He cursed. "It's Septum."

"You know him?"

"Unfortunately. Look, everyone, we only have a few minutes." Zechs turned to face the parlor full of people. "That man is trouble for Treize and it'll be a lot easier on everyone if Septum doesn't know that we're here. If everyone could just leave for a little while, I'd appreciate it very much."

Ryou protested, "But I promised Seiji I'd take care of his sister, I can't leave her."

Zechs grimaced. "We'll move Noin into Nasty's bedroom. Even Septum wouldn't dare to insult Treize by invading his sister's privacy. That would be unforgivable. You can stay with her there. It's the third door on the left." Zechs held the door open for Ryou who carried Noin out.

"What about the rest of us?" Shin asked.

Outside, they heard the heavy gate swing open with a clank and the car drive in. Zechs thought desperately. "You're all servants. He likely won't bring anyone with him. He never does. I think he worries that someone will slip up and report his conversations with Treize to the press. No one should question you about your presence here. He certainly won't lower himself to speak with servants."

Kay, who'd made herself almost invisible with her silence, stood up and drew attention to herself. "What can I do?"

"Do you mind taking the tigers and little Lai out to the garden? If you could keep them quiet and away from windows it would be a big help. Septum has never bothered to look around the house so he shouldn't be going out there."

Kay nodded quietly and picked up Lai. "Let's go play." Then she looked at the large cats. "Ko-chan, Yaku-chan, let's go."

Zechs stopped Touma as he began to stand. "You might as well stay. Having a witness might just keep Septum civilized and, if we're lucky, it'll encourage him to leave early."

From the window, Touma could see a large man in a military uniform marching up the walkway towards the front door. "What do you want me to do?"

"You don't have to do anything. You were accepted into OZ prematurely, the paperwork is all there and legal. You stay here and if Septum asks, you're here on a second interview with Treize."

So Touma stayed on the couch and it was only then that Zechs noticed Duo was still in the room. "Duo, will you... "

"No."

"What?" Zechs was taken aback by Duo's reply.

Duo stood by the window, watching as Septum knocked imperiously on the door. "I'm not leaving. If this is gonna make trouble for Treize, I'm all for it." He smirked unpleasantly. "He killed Sister Helen, so I want to make as much trouble for him as possible."

Zechs looked like he was about to panic. "Please, take this up with Treize later! This is very important... "

"Sister Helen was important! All the children were important!" Duo snarled back. "If he didn't want trouble he shouldn't have killed them."

"You idiot!" Zechs almost yelled, his fists clenched at his side. "Treize didn't order that attack, Septum did! He's the military commander for the Alliance and no one does anything without his approval!"

Duo's dark smirk vanished and he slowly looked out the window at Septum who was still impatiently waiting for Treize. "Really? Did he?"

"Yes! I haven't even told Treize what I found out, yet, but it's definite. A source of mine has told me that it was Septum who ordered the attack. If you mess up this meeting Treize, you're only going to be helping Septum!" Zechs hated begging, but there was no other way that he could get Duo out of the room. "Treize is a paper tiger."

"A what"

"He's a tiger with no teeth or claws, he's got no power! The only thing the Alliance uses Treize for is to look pretty for the people. Please, believe me."

Duo stared at Zechs with an unreadable expression for a moment. "If I find out you're lying to me, I'll kill you along with Treize." With that, he slipped easily out of the room.

Touma didn't think much of General Septum. The man was brash, overbearing, and unpleasantly loud. He spoke far louder than necessary and seemed to mock Treize at every opportunity. He strolled into the house as if it were his own and sat down without being invited.

The tea was served by Mama Fan who remained polite even when General Septum commented that it was interesting how Treize was suddenly in need of a housemaid and asked why he hadn't thought to hire one who was at least a little attractive. "After all, you have the money not to have to look at that fat face everyday."

"I find Mrs. Fan to be an excellent cook, sir." Treize calmly sipped his tea and watched, over Septum's shoulder, as Mama Fan blew a silent raspberry at the back of Septum's head. She was smart enough not to endanger Treize by doing it to the man's face, but Touma strongly suspected Mama Fan wanted to slap Septum's face.

I'LL BREAK HIS NOSE IF HE SAYS SOMETHING LIKE THAT ABOUT MY MAMA AGAIN! Xiu thought furiously from the kitchen where he and Shin were listening through Touma.

Treize continued, "I like having trustworthy people in my house, and it's so hard to find good help these days."

"Yes," Septum answered, picking up his own teacup. "I heard that Lady Une vanished a short while ago. Have you had any word from her?"

"No," Treize answered, shortly. "I'm afraid not. I suppose she must have found a better employer, somewhere. She seemed satisfied with her position here."

General Septum snorted. "I've heard rumors that she went and joined the rebels from the colonies."

Treize lifted an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yes." General Septum's tone hardened. "She was your personal assistant, if I remember correctly, Treize. She knew most of your business, didn't she?"

"Lady Une knew all of my secrets, general." Treize lowered his voice slightly and Touma heard sadness in his tone. "I shared everything with her and she was very valuable to me. I considered her a very close friend."

"Hrumph! I don't care if she was your mother, Treize. What did she know that could hurt us?"

Treize gave Septum a sweet smile that never touched his eyes. "I don't know any secrets, general. Lady Une helped me organize the fund-raiser parties and keep track of my appointments. She helped to write speeches for me and she made sure my shoes were polished before I went out."

Touma wanted nothing more than to be out of the room with the amount of tension that had escalated between the two men. _Treize is lying and Septum knows it, but he can't do anything unless he has proof._

Zechs was the only other person in the room, standing at the door at attention, like a guard would, but even he seemed more stiff than usual.

"So," General Septum was suddenly looking at Touma with a very fake smile. "You're the Hashiba I've heard so much about."

"Um, yes, sir." Touma sat up a little straighter, thankful again for how much Kitty had forced him to learn how to act in 'proper' company when he was younger. "I'm Hashiba Touma."

"I hear you want to be in OZ. Is that right?"

"Yes, sir." Touma wished he knew what Treize wanted him to say so he wouldn't get the other man in trouble.

Septum laughed softly. "You should consider a career in the Alliance, I think it would suit your talents better than OZ."

"Oh?"

"Yes. OZ is just an offshoot of the Alliance forces, after all. It wouldn't be all that much different for you. From what I've seen of you I think you'd be a great asset to my army." He seemed about to say something else when something caught his attention and Septum went silent for a moment. "There was something I wanted to talk to you about, Treize."

Touma, curiously, followed Septum's gaze and found that the man was staring at a photo of Nasty. It was a lovely picture of Nasty, Treize, Zechs, and Noin on what looked like a family picnic.

Treize also saw what Septum was looking at and his face because carefully blank. "Yes."

"I heard about the recent tragedy your poor sister is going though, what with her... your grandfather and all. How is she holding up?"

"She's fine, general. She's in mourning, but taking it as well as can be expected." Treize seemed to be confused about this sudden curiosity about Nasty, but didn't ask.

"Ahh. She's grown in a very... attractive young lady. I remember seeing her at your parents funeral. She was such a plain child."

Treize stiffened at the mention of his parents. "I've never thought her plain, but she is my sister so I suppose I may be bias."

"She isn't married, is she?"

Touma felt about a dozen warning bells go off in his mind and, from Treize's expression, so did he.

"No. She... "

"I think I may remedy that."

For a moment, Treize just stared, dumbfounded. "Sir, I... "

"It could help your own interests, Treize." Septum lit his cigar and leaned back on Treize's sofa. "If I had Nasutei as incentive, I may be more willing to help you within the Alliance rather than keep you confined to that embarrassing OZ. I can always find some other idiot to babysit the misfits. You could get a very comfortable position at the Alliance headquarters."

Septum seemed to forget that Zechs, a proud OZ officer, was still in the room. Either that or he was just rude enough not to care.

"It would be good for your sister if she had someone to take care of her, now that she's lost her grandfather. I can give her the security a woman needs and keep her in a manner she should enjoy." He smirked and kept his eyes on the photo of Nasty. "Yes, I think I'd like to have your sister as my wife."

Touma inched away from Treize, seeing that the man had reached his breaking point. A man can only be pushed so far, after all.

"My sister is a very intelligent, independent young lady perfectly capable of taking care of herself, General." Treize tried to keep his tone civil, but wasn't doing a very good job of it. "She does not need your security. Nasty is inheriting our grandfather's fortune and it will keep her safe and comfortable for the rest of her life." Touma saw Treize's eye twitch. "And besides all that, I've made it publicly clear on more than one occasion that I will never try to force my sister into marriage against her will."

"She's your sister, you should be able to control what she does... "

Treize stood up very quickly and turned his back on General Septum. He went to the drinks cabinet and filled his now empty teacup with some kind of liquor. "Have you ever heard of a man that could control what a woman does? Nasty will not only tell anyone who listens what was done to her, but she would arrange interviews with the media and write articles online. My sister can be spiteful and vindictive, general. She is perfectly capable of ruining us both if we get her involved with the Alliance in anyway. Trust me, you're better off looking for a more docile wife."

Touma watched Treize's hands shake while he drank the liquor in one gulp and knew he that Treize was keeping his back to Septum just so he wouldn't lose his temper entirely.

OH, DEAR. Touma heard Xiu think from where he was watching though Touma's eyes in the kitchen. NASTY'S WITH US AND SHE SAYS TREIZE DOESN'T HOLD HIS BOOZE WELL. HE'S A TERRIBLE DRINKER AND IF HE GETS STARTED IT MEANS HE'S REALLY UPSEST.

HOW DOES SHE KNOW HE'S DRINKING? Touma asked.

SHE'S PEERING THOUGH A VENT IN THE WALL THAT CONNECTS THE PARLOR TO THE KITCHEN. SHE SAYS ITS ONE ADVANTAGE TO LIVING IN A SMALL HOUSE.

"I get the feeling you'd rather I didn't marry Nasutei, Treize." Septum's voice was dark and threatening. "Do you think I'm not good enough for your backwoods sister."

"Of course not, General." Treize finally turned around and smiled the same idiot smile that had been on his face ever since Septum had arrived. "I just think you'd be happier with someone else. I know my sister better than anyone and I can tell you, she does not want to be married to anyone at the moment."

**Zechs-  
Later-**

"As if I was going to let that balding, pervert old man put one finger on my sister!" Treize growled as he threw his teacup at the wall and watched it shatter. "That ass! He thinks he can demand my sister just like that?! How dare he have the audacity to... in my own home... I'll kill him with my bare hands before he touches Nasty!" Treize snatched a bottle of gin he normally kept on the fireplace mantel and poured himself another large glass while glaring out the window at Septum's car as it vanished down the driveway. Treize was silent for a minute before throwing his head back and swallowing the entire glass of gin in one swallow.

"Treize... " Zechs bit his lip, not sure what to say in the face of Treize's uncharacteristic fury. It was going to be a bad situation if he let Treize get drunk. He'd never seen Treize so angry.

"I don't want to hear it!" Treize snapped, reaching again for the gin bottle. "I know what you're going to say, Zechs. That I have to calm down and think about this rationally. Well, logic just flew out the window at the insult of that proposal, so you can save your breath."

Zechs strode over to Treize and took the half-empty bottle out of his hand. "Actually, I was going to say that I think we should ask mama Fan for a cup of coffee for you. You've had enough to drink."

"I don't think so!" Treize grabbed for the bottle again, but Zechs kept it out of reach and put a hand on Treize's chest to keep him at arms distance. "Give it to me! I've had a hard day."

Zechs' eyes narrowed under his mask. He turned to Touma, who still sat awkwardly on the sofa, looking as if he'd rather be anywhere but in the same room as Treize right now. "Touma, why don't you go see your friends and tell them what's going on?"

"They already know, but I'll just go make sure." Touma sped out of the room as quickly as he could.

Treize took that moment to make another move for the gin, but Zechs slapped him.

Treize reeled back, a hand on his cheek. "You... " Treize wore a shocked expression that almost made Zechs wish he hadn't hit him.

"Get a hold of yourself!" Zechs ordered. "Every time Septum comes to visit, you end up drunk. Just stop it! Think for a minute. He WANTS you to get this upset. We aren't alone this time. You've got Nasty to think about and your home is full of OZ soldiers. What are your men going to think if they see you staggering around or praying to the porcelain goddess? You mean everything to them and they're going to feel crushed if you fall apart in front of them. They won't have any faith in you if can't even handle a simple visit from your commanding officer."

"You don't understand."

"Like Hell I don't! You know I think of Nasty like my own sister. She's one of my best friends and I'll kill Septum myself before I'll let him have her. Don't you dare say I don't understand!" Zechs moved away from Treize, now afraid that he'd do something he'd regret more than just a slap across his love's face. "I lost my sister to Septum, in case you don't remember! My sweet little sister DIED in that damned war Septum and his kind started and she was only six! How dare you? How dare you say I don't understand!"

Treize looked away, ashamed. "I'm sorry. You're right, as always." He rubbed his face with both hands and said, "I wasn't thinking. Please, forgive me. I didn't mean to hurt you by bringing up those memories. You must hate him more than I ever could."

Taking a deep breath, Zechs forced himself to calm down. "I'll never forgive him. I can't. But I don't let that hate interfere in my life. I know I can never have the revenge I want, but I can help you to stop a war like that from ever happening again."

A moment of silence before Treize offered Zechs an apologetic smile. "Let's go ask Mrs. Fan for that coffee, shall we?" He shook his head and smiled self-consciously. "I'm already starting to feel a bit queasy. I really should stick to tea."

"You won't hear me arguing." Zechs replied. "I could live my whole life never having to deal with you being drunk again."

**Shin-**

Mama Fan was not impressed with Septum, nor was anyone else who'd been eavesdropping on the meeting. "What a rude man!" Mama Fan fumed while she chopped some vegetables for dinner. Everyone had gathered in the kitchen and Shin found it a strangely comforting atmosphere. In a very few hours Mama Fan had changed the cold, unused kitchen into a very homey room filled with lovely, warm smells. "Why, I wish I could give him a piece of my mind!"

Shin tried to hold back a smile. "I'm surprised you didn't, mama." He said, lending a hand by preparing some chicken. "I've never seen you take attitude from anyone."

Mama Fan patted his shoulder. "Even I know when it's wiser to hold my tongue. However," Her eyes narrowed, "He went WAY beyond rudeness!" She turned a questioning look to Treize who was sitting at the table, sipping coffee. "What is a nice boy like you doing associating with that character? He's going to dirty your image, with that kind of behavior."

Treize laughed. "He's going to kill me if he can get the chance. If he can't find an excuse to have me killed, he'll ruin my reputation and publicly embarrass me. Don't worry, Mrs. Fan. I don't trust him and I'll keep my eye on him."

"So will I." Nasty had been sitting next to Kay, opposite of Treize at the table, but now stood. "Don't you worry about me, Treize. I can take care of myself. I'm going to go do some more searching on the internet, Treize. I'll be back down in a little while."

"What are you searching for?" Touma asked suddenly. "I'm pretty good with computers, maybe I can help."

She looked at him wearily for a moment, as if trying to determine if she wanted his help or not. "Alright. Come upstairs and I'll fill you in. Treize," She called as she and Touma started walking out of the room. "They're bringing Quatre back here, aren't they."

"Yes. As far as I know. Why?"

"When he gets here, I need to talk with him. Tell him it's important."

"What for?" Touma asked her; interested in anything that had to do with his brother.

"Don't worry about it." Nasty replied before they both left.

SHE'S HIDING SOMETHING. Touma told Shin, worried. I DON'T TRUST HER, SHE'S SMARTER THAN SHE LOOKS.

I'M SURE SHE'S NOT GOING TO CAUSE TROUBLE. Shin answered. I LIKE NASTY. SHE SEEMs CLEVER, BUT THAT'S NOT A BAD THING, AS YOU SHOULD KNOW. His tone turned teasing.

LAUGH IT UP, PAL, Touma replied. BUT THIS GIRL IS DANGEROUS. CAN'T YOU TELL?  
Shin thought about what little he knew of Nasty. He'd only met her a little while ago, after all, and really didn't know her well. NOT REALLY. WHY DO YOU THINK SO?

Xiu barged into the conversation. WUFEI LIKES HER, IF YOU FIND OUT SHE'S TROUBLE, I WANT TO KNOW. He didn't sound at all happy, and Shin saw him cast a look at the now closed door that Nasty and Touma had gone though. I DON'T WANT HIM GETTING HURT. HE'S JUST STARTING TO GET OVER MEIRAN; I DON'T WANT HIM GETTING HIS HEART BROKEN AGAIN.

Shin smiled and put his arm around Xiu. YOU'RE SO SWEET AND THOUGHTFUL.

Xiu blushed, but didn't bother to hide his grin.

Shin belatedly realized that Xiu's mother was in the same room. OH, I'M SORRY... He hadn't thought of how Xiu's mom would react.

"Don't worry," Xiu said serenely. "Mama knows I'm gay. I told her ages ago."

"So long as my baby's happy," Mama Fan said without turning around from her cooking. "And so long as he gets an heir for the Fan name, I'll be happy."

"Heir?" Shin turned, startled, to Xiu.

"I'll adopt." Shu replied easily. "Mama and I figured it all out ages ago. Don't worry so much."

How could Shin stop himself from worrying? Now that the crisis was over, he had to start thinking about the little details. Life with Xiu and Touma, where Ryou and Seiji would fit into all of this, what part in their lives would the Ma-Sho play, and how would Cathy take this when he told her what had been going on?

Cathy?

Cathy!

"I have to call my sister!" Shin nearly screamed. "She hasn't heard from me in weeks and she still thinks someone's trying to kill me, she'll be so worried!" He pushed himself away from Xiu. "Treize, can I use your communicator?"

"It's in the parlor." Treize said, without looking at him.

**Treize-**

A short while later, when Treize had settled down, he blurted out, "I'll bet it was him!" Treize said suddenly, frowning at his coffee. "I'll bet Septum had grandfather killed."

Ryou frowned. "Why? I know you don't like the guy, but that doesn't mean he killed anyone."

"Isn't it obvious? That was his main point when he said he wanted to marry Nasty. He used the excuse that she didn't have grandfather to take care of her as an excuse to try and get me to marry her off. I'll bet he had Dorothy kill grandfather just to get this opportunity." Treize's eyes blazed with fury. "I'll kill him!"

Nasty walked back in with a paper in her hands and had just heard Treize's words. "NO!" Nasty cried, her eyes widening. "You can't! Treize, you can't start anything yet. Look," She held out the paper she'd brought in with her. "I've got some information. Dorothy was definitely not in school when the murder happened, I managed to hack into her school's records. At that time, though, Septum was in America overseeing the building of some new armaments factory. He could have given her the order to kill grandfather, but he didn't do it personally."

"It's close enough. I'll have him dead as soon as possible."

"You aren't listening, Treize." Nasty spoke slowly so he'd be sure to hear her and Treize could easily see how serious she was. "We don't know Dorothy did it, we only know she could have done it. We don't KNOW Septum even had anything to do with it. There's been no record of any contact or communication between the two of them in the last six months. I want to make sure, before we do anything."

Treize hugged her tightly, knowing that he would do anything to protect her. "I'm doing this for you, Nasty. If my enemies have started to target my family, the time has come to... "

"No, it hasn't! You said it yourself, that OZ is only at half it's potential strength and to start a war at this point would be throwing your troops lives away. They can't possibly defeat the colonies and the Alliance. We don't even know who killed grandfather. It might have been the colonies, but I doubt it if those boys are their representatives. They were with us the whole time. The Alliance? It's possible, but why? They really don't see you as a threat." Nasty forced Treize to look at her "Promise me you won't do anything rash."

Treize was quite for a long time.

"Excuse me."

Everyone looked up to find Rajura standing in the doorway.

"I couldn't help but over hear. Did you say you wanted to start a war?"

**Sh'ten-  
Void-**

Sh'ten was, once again, in the void of darkness. He had been there ever since escorting doctor J to his 'reward' and now waited for... something, anything to happen. It felt like he'd been in the endless nothingness for years and in that time, Sh'ten had nothing to do but remember.

He remember how he'd first met Rajura, on a battlefield where he'd lost his first battle to the one eyed man. He remembered Rajura's seductive offer of an endless lifetime and the life of an emperor. He remembered even before that.

Clear, bright memories of his father hurting him. He'd come home one day, beaten up by bullies because the color of his hair was different, crying. Father had slapped him across the face. "I only do this because I love you, Koma. You can not be weak! You must never show fear or pain to anyone! You'll understand when you grow up."

And so Sh'ten learned that pain means love.

Then came memories, more faded and less concrete, of his mother. A red haired woman with soft eyes who held him against herself during thunderstorms and told him stories. "The thunder is giants throwing temper tantrums, my little one." She would turn to the open window and laugh bravely at the raging storm while he sat on her lap, clutching the front of her kimono in fear. "Laugh, my little one. Show them you are not afraid. My warrior. My brave little warrior."

Sh'ten, of course, laughed with her and learned that if you laugh, you can't be really afraid.  
Now, alone, Sh'ten was lost in those memories and more. Anubisu taking him hunting for the first time and Naaza allowing him into his bed. Rajura teaching him to, strangely enough, knit.

It was all so... unspeakably pitiful.

_I wasted all that time._ Sh'ten realized with a sigh. _There was so much we could have been doing instead of gathering power for Arago and ourselves. What would I have done if we had conquered the Ningen Sekai, anyway? Power is all well and good, but then you have to defend that power and take care of the people under your rule. I should have just asked Naaza to elope with me and gone on a romantic honeymoon. Some place nice, like Hawaii. Never did see Hawaii. Damn._

Sh'ten sighed again. So, this was how it all ended. Just a vast emptiness, forever. All the years of blood that stained his hands would surely condemn him; to whatever Hell the afterlife had to offer. Well, it had been his choice.

"Are you ready?"

Sh'ten turned abruptly to the voice he now recognized as belonging to the monk. He stood behind Sh'ten, leaning slightly on the elaborate staff with his ever-jangling rings. The wide hat he wore hid his face so all that was visible was the man's mouth.

"Ready?" Sh'ten repeated dumbly. It took him a moment to realize what the monk was talking about. He nodded, turning to face the monk fully. "I've dealt with my ghosts and I've faced all my demons."

"Then you are satisfied with what you have done with your life?"

"No." Sh'ten shook his head. "Finally content with a past I regret, but I'm not satisfied. I could have done so much more." Sh'ten thought back, though, to the people he loved more than life, his brothers, and how much their love meant to him through out the long years of his life. "I've found your fine strength in your moments of weakness. But once I made peace with myself... " Sh'ten stopped himself right there. He was NOT going to start thinking about his evil deeds, again. Instead, he told the monk, "I've been burdened with blame, trapped in the past for too long." Perhaps he was just a fossil. The world had changed so much and Sh'ten was a relic from a bygone age. He hadn't been able, or allowed to, move and grow as humanity had grown over the years. "I'm moving on."

"Are you prepared to leave your home?" The monk pointed his staff at the void behind Sh'ten and Sh'ten turned to look. There was Arago's city-palace he'd lived in for nearly four hundred years. Surrounded in mist like he would always remember it and in the pasture next to the palace, Sh'ten could just barely make out the herd of horses, a breed of demon horses Anubisu lovingly tended. "There are so many memories for you here."

"I've lived in this place, and I know all the faces." Sh'ten found himself picturing not only Anubisu with the horses, but Ryou and Duo running though the halls, Kay practicing with Rajura with her little twin jitte. He saw Naaza in the swamps, sprawled out on a large sunny rock with his snakes perched all around and on top of him. "Each one is different, but they're always the same." Family, the only people who ever loved him. "They mean me no harm. But it's time that I faced it." Then came other faces. Arago. Saranbo. Father. Badamon. All the people he had ever killed, or done worse to, haunted his mind. "They'll never allow me to change." Even if Sh'ten wanted to be a good person and never lift a weapon again as long as he lived, he didn't think he'd be able to. They'll always be with him, in the back of his mind, reminding him of what he was capable of. How could he change if their faces were always with him. Sh'ten turned away from the city-palace. "But I never dreamed home would end up where I don't belong." Sh'ten had come to think of the Youja Kai as his home, but his family was gone, now in the Ningen Sekai. There was nothing left for him in that place. "I'm moving on."

The city-palace vanished as abruptly as it had been created.

"What to do you believe will become of you now?" The monk asked.

"I don't know." Sh'ten shrugged and tried to sound lighthearted. "I'm moving on. At last I can see, life has been patiently waiting for me." Perhaps in the afterlife there would be something wonderful. It was a chance to see and experience new things. He had to be hopeful. If he dwelled on the fact that he was doomed, Sh'ten knew he would lose his mind.

"You may not like what you will find in this new life."

"I know there's no guarantee. But... I might... alone... " He paused a moment to stop babbling and say what was in his heart. "There comes a time in everyone's life when all you can see is the years passing by and I've made up my mind that those days," Sh'ten had to stop again, choking with tears. Tears? _I... I don't want to cry. I'm not afraid. The years have become very long and tedious. There's no sense in being afraid of change._

"Do you have anything left that needs to be done?"

Sh'ten shook his head: no. "I've done what I could, they'll do what I couldn't. I felt their love on my way out. I've loved like I should. But lived like I shouldn't. Maybe forgiveness with find me somewhere down this road. I'm moving on." Yes, it's time to leave. _I'm tired of this emptiness. Tired of nothing to do but remember the faces of people I'll never get to see again. There's nothing for me here, I have to go. I have to let them get on with their lives. I'm moving on. I'm moving on._

The monk raised his staff again and pointed it at Sh'ten's chest. There was no bright flare of light, but a soft fading of reality that engulfed Sh'ten. Sh'ten felt himself start to fade, regretting that he wouldn't see his family again. They meant so much to him, so very, very much.

He was tired and wanted to rest.

Sh'ten, Koma Toshitada, the red topped child and beloved by all who truly knew him, faded from sight.

**Kaosu, the Monk-**

"Master, are you certain?" Kaosu looked at the spot where the spirit of Sh'ten had been only moments before.

"You have doubts?"

"He had not changed in many hundreds of years, master." Kaosu replied carefully. "His life had been a waste and he has only used it to bring pain and evil to the world. Is he worthy of your mercy?"

"It is not mercy that moves me to retrieve his soul. Sh'ten is apart of something greater than he that will not suffer to be without him. The ogre of spring, so changing and contrary, is a part of the circle that holds the Earth in balance.

Time: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter

Elements: Fire, Earth, Air, Water, Spirit

Without them, the Ningen Sekai will face the doom of a dark future. Spring, whatever his nature, will be endured for the good of all. His pleasures and his torments are not important, only his existence matters. Find him a home, my servant. A loving, gentle home that will temper his spirit."

Kaosu bowed to the unseen speaker and, with staff in hand, disappeared from the void.

**To be continued...**


	35. Megalomaniac Ambitions

**Chapter 35: Megalomaniac Ambitions**

**Naaza-**

Doctor J was dead.

Naaza, a physician by necessity, was certain. He checked the man's pulse twice and peered into his blank, staring eyes. When he was certain - as if there were any doubt given Sh'ten's enthusiasm - he turned to Rajura and nodded once.

That was it. They were done. Anubisu gave the boy, Quatre, to Naaza without being asked and Naaza easily swung the slight form into his arms. He wasn't Sh'ten, not any longer. Naaza took a moment to stare at the boy's face. It had only been temporary. Just another of Sh'ten's passing facies.

_Cruel,_ Naaza almost laughed even as he saw Rajura and Anubisu moving about the room. _Even dead you're too cruel. How many times do you plan to come back? You don't have to keep reminding me. I won't forget you._ Even as he thought it, Naaza held the blonde boy a little tighter. Foolish. He couldn't keep Sh'ten any longer, no matter how hard he held on.

"Naaza?" Rajura lightly touched his back. "We have to go."

"Yes," Naaza blinked slowly. "Of course."

They left the room only to be faced at once with the boys they'd left in the hallway. They were tense and stood ready, as if preparing for action that might spring on them. Wufei and Trowa, especially, looked ready to fight.

Trowa looked at Quatre, then at Naaza. His one visible eye was cold.

"He's uninjured," Rajura told the boy. "Sh'ten has left him. That's all."

Trowa looked intently at Rajura and seemed to find the explanation satisfying. He took a step backwards.

Wufei took Trowa's place by stepping forward. He crossed his arms over his chest and raised his chin. "You've done what you had to do?"

"We have," Anubisu answered.

"You'd best go ahead. There will be clean up to do."

Anubisu laughed. "Yes… it will require a mop, at least."

"Hardly the type of clean up I was thinking of," Wufei sneered. "I don't know much about you three other than what I've been told. However, it has been quite a while since you've been on Earth? Then you won't know certain things. You've left a lot of evidence around, I'm sure, and authorities will be able to find a way to trace this murder to you. Trowa and I can handle it."

Heero opened his mouth to speak, but Wufei held up a hand. "No. You go with them. I'm sure you're tired after what you've seen and we can't afford mistakes. We're all too tied up in this to risk any mistakes. Go rest."

"I'm not tired," Heero protested. "I'm trained to go for days without sleep. I am also versatile on computers." He gestured around the room at the metal boxes with buttons and the glass panels of glowing light. "I will make no mistakes."

Wufei looked doubtful, but Trowa leaned forward and whispered something to him. Wufei looked at Trowa, then at Heero and shrugged. "Fine. But I'll be double checking your work."

Heero nodded and set off to work tapping away on one of the things with all the buttons. Wufei and Trowa followed him, all working at different stations without speaking to one another.

Everyone else just watched for a moment before Rajura shooed them out of the room saying, "They seem to know what they're doing. Let's just move along."

The run to meet up with Duo, Kayura, and Ryou wasn't an especially long one, but it gave Naaza time to think.

The family dynamics had changed.

Naaza wasn't sure how he should feel about Rajura taking Sh'ten's place as their leader, it seemed wrong, somehow. _It shouldn't. Rajura was taking care of us long before Sh'ten was even born_. It was Rajura who'd greeted Naaza in the city-palace that would become his home for the next several centuries after Anubisu had found him in India. In the ruins of an ancient palace where Naaza had lived after...

Naaza didn't even realize he wasn't shielding his mind well until Rajura reached out with his own mind and gave Naaza a gentle touch. YOU DON'T HAVE TO THINK ABOUT THOSE TIMES. IT'S DONE. YOU'RE WITH US NOW. "He looks well enough." Rajura's looked at Quatre, still cradled in Naaza's arms.

"Physically he'll be fine," Naaza said professionally. "I want you to observe his mental state and see if his mind has been affected, though." Anything to take his mind off that memory of before he'd come to live with his brothers. "Sh'ten said this boy will remember nothing of what happened - what he did. His mind was befuddled."

Quatre's eyes flickered open. "I'm tired."

"You'll be fine," Naaza told him. "We're taking you to your brother."

Quatre's eyes started closing. "Trowa?"

"He's with your brother and the others. They should all be safe."

"Have... have to talk to... Treize." Quatre closed his eyes and fell back asleep.

While they ran, a terrible noise caught their attention and everyone looked up. The monstrous machines that looked like armored warrior giants couldn't hide their presence. The few people on the streets stopped and stared, some screamed, while the metal boxes - cars - screeched to a halt.

"Gundams."

Naaza looked sharply at Seiji. The boy didn't so much as look up at the machines.

"They're called Gundams. Weapons of war… keepers of peace… take your pick. Ignore them. Everything's changed now."

Rajura's lips twitched. "What has?"

"Everything." Seiji kept looking straight ahead, seemingly uninterested in the conversation or the machines overhead. "The war that was meant to be started has been canceled. There is no one left to give orders." He stumbled, but quickly recovered himself. "No orders at all… "

When they arrived at Kushranada-san's home they ran straight passed the guards and Naaza doubted the men had noticed them at all considering that the guards were all staring up at the Gundams and shouting.

"Stop," Rajura told them just before they left the shelter of the trees to enter the open close to Kushranada-san's home. "Those guards didn't seem too pleased. Let's just wait a moment. Seiji, check with your brothers to see what's going on in there."

The Gundams landed in the middle of Kushranada-san's lawn.

"I guess they aren't terribly interested in hiding." Naaza had to smirk, watching the panicked guards' race out to the front lawn of Treize's home where the boys were disembarking from their machines. The guards all held weapons and looked very serious.

From where they stood it was impossible to hear what was being said, but Wufei, from his posture and the arrogant tilt of his head, clearly wasn't afraid. He said something to the guards who faced them. When Trowa spoke, also, one of the guards made a gesture and another ran back to the house.

Throughout it all, Heero remained silent and still.

They watched from a respectable distance and Anubisu said, "I wonder why he suddenly has so many men here? Do your brothers say anything, Seiji?"

Seiji stared at the house with his implacable expression. "There was an unexpected visit by Treize's superior. Ryou says that everyone was upset before that, though. He has heard that one of Kushranada-san's relatives was murdered. The guards are for fear that the murderer might turn to this house, next. Everyone's waiting for us in the hall outside the kitchen and Ryou says to be careful when we see Mama Fan."

"Mama Fan?" Naaza thought back to the cheerful, plump, matronly woman he's briefly met.

"Whatever for?"

"She's upset."

They didn't go towards the house until the guards relaxed after their comrade returned and allowed the three boys to enter the house. Seiji confirmed, through Ryou, that it was safe to make themselves known.

Cautiously, the five of them shed their yoroi before they entered through the kitchen door. If something had happened, they sensed no obvious signs of distress from the younger yoroi bearers.

"That no-good, low life ant!"

Everyone paused when they heard Mama Fan muttering under her breath while she stirred a large pot of stew.

"I swear the next time I lay eyes on him, I'll wring his scrawny little neck!" Mama Fan violently picked up the pepper-shaker and began to throw as much pepper into the stew as possible with harsh shaking movements. "Suggesting that sweet little Nasty should... why... I never! As if she would ever... "

Anubisu cast a doubtful look at Rajura. DO WE REALLY WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED WHILE WE WERE GONE?

I'M NOT SURE. LET'S SNEAK OUT QUIETLY BEFORE SHE NOTICES US, SHALL WE? I HAVEN'T SEEN A WOMAN THAT ANGRY SINCE MY MOTHER FOUND OUT THAT IT WASN'T THE DOG THAT ATE HER WEDDING DRESS.

WHO WAS IT?

MY FATHER.

RAJURA.

YES?

DON'T EVER TELL ME ANOTHER STORY ABOUT YOUR SCREWY FAMILY. HONESTLY, I DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED.

Not feeling at all like the fearsome warriors they were, the young men tip-toed out of the kitchen where they found Xiu and Shin in the hallway along with a frantically pacing Touma. As soon as Naaza walked in with Quatre Touma was at them.

Touma's eyes lit up. "Kitty!" He cried happily, running to take Quatre from Naaza. "You brought him back! Oh, thank Allah!"

"Of course we did." Naaza answered grumpily, only too pleased to give his burden over to Touma. "Did you think we'd just leave him?"

Touma gave Naaza a flat look before looking down at Quatre. "Wake up! Kitty, are you alright?"

With a tired moan, Quatre tossed his head and pried his eyes open. "Let me die."

Touma just hugged him tighter. "No way, Rashid would kill me. Man, I called them a bit ago and I think we're in serious trouble, Kitty. Rashid was almost yelling on the phone and you KNOW he never yells." Touma turned to carry Quatre away, supposedly to rest, but Quatre stopped him.

"I've got to speak with Treize. He's here, right?"

"Yeah." Touma gave him a puzzled look. "What do you want to talk to him for. I thought you hated him."

"Hate him? Of course not. I just didn't want you to join the Alliance, Touma." Quatre yawned tiredly and snuggled into Touma's arms. "I just want to have a quiet word to thank him for opening his home to us and other pleasantries."

"Well, I guess so." Touma didn't seem convinced that it was a good idea. "Don't you think you should rest first?"

"What is it that Abdul always says? Sleep is for tortoises, slugs, and the dead? I'll rest later. Right now, I want to say hello to our host."

"If you say so, Kitty."

Once those two were gone, Ryou went to Seiji and just smiled at him. The low buzzing in the background make Naaza realize that they were talking mentally and the fact that Shin blushed slightly and looked away, said something in the private nature of whatever they were talking about. Very slowly, Ryou reached out to Seiji, brushing his fingers though Seiji's shaggy blonde hair that covered his eye. At the last moment, though, Seiji pulled away from Ryou, not letting him see what was hidden beneath his hair.

Ryou frowned and reached out to Seiji again, but Seiji just moved away.

HE'S DREADFULLY SCARRED ON THAT SIDE OF HIS FACE. Rajura told Naaza and Anubisu. HE TOLD ME THAT RYOU HASN'T SEEN IT, YET.

"Ah," Xiu said pleasantly. He must have noticed the exchange between Seiji and Ryou, but was apparently trying to ignore it simply to be polite. "You made it out of the kitchen alive. I guess mama didn't see you, huh? She's in a pretty foul mood."

"What's wrong with her?" Naaza asked, unable to hold his curiosity. "I thought she was going to kill the stew."

"She just might." Shin said. "She's got reason to. We've had the most horrible visit while you were gone." He smiled fondly at Seiji. "Ryou stayed with your sister, Seiji. She seems to be fine, just tired."

Seiji nodded, but said nothing else before wandering off in search of his sister.

"If you hurt her," Shin added, once Seiji had gone. "You realize Seiji will kill you." He turned his innocent, yet strangely wicked gaze to Anubisu and Rajura. "He's terribly protective."

"You know?" Anubisu asked, sounding surprised.

"Yes," Shin answered. "I've noticed and so has everyone else. Don't hurt her. Anyway," Shin turned to Naaza suddenly and smiled gently. "May I have a word with you, Naaza?"

"What about?" Naaza asked.

"Something private." Shin took Naaza's arm and led him back outside where he closed the door and looked around slowly. "Just want to be sure we have some privacy." He stopped then and looked closely at Naaza. Shin frowned a little, looking him up and down. "I'd made up my mind to do this and now that we're at it, I'm not sure how to say this."

"Just say it." Naaza told him. "I've not got thin skin."

Shin smiled and it was like the smile of an innocent child. "Alright. Would you like to sleep with me?"

Naaza's mouth fell open.

"Don't stare," Shin turned away, slightly. "It's just an offer. Not like I'm asking you to marry me."

"You… what?"

Shin turned away fully. "You heard."

"I did." It wasn't the boy's age that threw Naaza. He'd seen many youths in the company of nobles and even soldiers. He was just shocked that the offer came at all…. from anyone. He wasn't exactly attractive. "I assure you I am not the type to take to bed someone I hardly know. You do not strike me as a person with low morals or an over-active libido. I can only presume that you say this out of some sense of pity."

Shin flushed. "I'm not offering sex! What dirty minds everyone seems to have! Just… we've all noticed that Rajura and Anubisu are preoccupied with Seiji's sister. I don't want you to think you're alone." His face fell. "I can't imagine losing any of them… I mean my…" He waved a hand. "Them."

"I understand. Your brothers."

Shin winced. "That doesn't sound good when we're talking about our loves."

"But it's as close a term as we've been able to find. What others think doesn't matter, does it?" Naaza laughed and raked his fingers through his hair. "You needn't worry about me being alone. Your bond is the same as mine. We both know that so long as at least one of our brothers lives, we will never be alone."

"You know what I mean."

"Perhaps."

"I can't imagine life without Xiu or Touma. I only met Touma a few days ago. If either of them were to die, not even Ryou and Seiji could replace them. All I'm offering is a warm place to sleep and a willing ear if you want to talk. That's all. It's not pity."

"Your offer is kind, but I refuse." He bowed. "Before Sh'ten I was alone. Being so again won't kill me." It had been a long time since he'd been alone, though. How many long years since Sh'ten had crept into his bed and refused to leave?

Shin turned to face him and looked puzzled. "Surely, Sh'ten wouldn't want you to be alone, just for his memory. He couldn't have been so cruel, not if you loved him."

That statement almost made Naaza want to laugh. "Sh'ten was cruel, but never maliciously. To him, pain and love went hand-in-hand and the best way to show love was with pain, which he used extravagantly. But it's not for his memory that I'm refusing you, Shin. I love him. To share a bed with anyone, even innocently, would feel like a betrayal." Naaza shook his head and smiled. "Although, I expect he would be very disappointed in me if he knew I was turning you away."

**Treize's Office-  
Heero-**

_Mission: complete._

No. The mission was not completed. _Mission: Canceled._

Heero was more afraid than he wanted to admit after the execution of doctor J. He didn't miss doctor J or regret that he'd done nothing to stop the killing. It had to be done. Not for his own sake - Heero could stand to be a weapon - but for the sake of others. For Seiji, most of all.

It plagued his mind that his mission was over, though. He had been raised with the knowledge that that the Alliance and, more recently, Treize Kushranada were evil and had to be destroyed. The death of doctor J didn't change that fact.

Standing in Kushranada's office felt odd. He'd always imagined that he would just kill the man when they met. There would be no situation, no words exchanged, and certainly no tea.

Kushranada leaned forward and pushed the tea cup closer to the edge of the desk where Heero stood. "Please, it will help you relax."

Heero didn't think anything would help him relax. Nothing was working out the way it was supposed to. Heero felt sick. It was almost as bad as when Duo got too close. He was frightened. He was free and he had no idea what to do with that freedom.

_I want to be with Duo._ That much he was certain of, but what about other things? Heero knew that normal teenagers went to school. _I've never been to school. What does one do in school? Where will I sleep? Maybe Kushranada will kill me._

"You look a bit lost," Kushranada-san leaned back and rested his hands on the arms of his chair. "If you don't want the tea, at least sit."

Heero's training for capture didn't seem to apply. Kushranada wasn't attempting to kill him, at that moment, or even imprison him. Even Merquise, standing to the right of Kushranada, didn't make any threatening moves. Heero thought hard about the question, but shook his head. "I would prefer to stand, sir."

Kushranada blinked at him and frowned. "You don't have to call me 'sir', Heero. You're not one of my soldiers."

"Understood." _Who do I call 'sir', then?_

"I'm not sure what to do with you," Treize said carefully. "I'd heard rumors about rebels planning attacks, but I hadn't anticipated your arrival in quite such an extraordinary manner. I also didn't expect you to turn on your masters or that you and your allies would get stuck in my life so deeply. What were your orders, exactly?"

"Nothing concerning you, yet."

"Yet? Do you know what you would have been ordered to do concerning me?"

"Kill you."

Kushranada and Merquise looked at each other, then back at Heero. Kushranada tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair. "Will you carry out that order?"

Heero frowned, confused about the question. "There is no order. It hadn't been given."

"So you don't plan to try to kill me?"

Heero really didn't understand why the man was making a simple concept so difficult. "There is no order. How can I act without an order?"

"I think I understand." Kushranada looked sad when he said it and that confused Heero all the more. "Are you planning to hurt anyone in this house?"

"There is no order."

"Right." He smiled, tightly. "The way I see it, you aren't really my enemy." He took a sip of coffee and thought for a minute. "I hope you understand that I really can't trust you because of the conditioning you've been subjected to. Not yet, anyway."

"Understood." Heero stood patiently and waited for whatever was to come.

The solution came in the form of Quatre being carried into the room by Touma. Touma said, "Kitty wants to talk to you, Kushranada-san."

Quatre patted Touma's arm and smiled angelically. "You can put me down, Touma. I just want to have a word with him."

"Zechs," Treize looked at Merquise. "Please, take Heero to the kitchen and see that he eats something. I don't want my guests to get hungry."

Both Zechs and Touma seemed puzzled. "Are you sure, Treize?" Zechs asked. "You just said you couldn't trust him"

Treize flashed a smile. "It'll be alright. I don't think he'll do anything foolish."

"Kitty?" Touma looked down at Quatre who'd never stopped smiling. "Are you sure about this? I really think you should be sleeping. You've had a VERY long day."

"I'll be fine. Why don't you do me a favor and go fine Wufei? I'll need to talk to him in a minute, too."

Reluctantly, Touma set Quatre down on the sofa and left on his errand and Zechs led Heero out of the room with only one concerned glance over his shoulder at Treize.

**Treize-**

Once everyone had left, Quatre's sweet smile turned decidedly sly.

"Alright," Treize asked. "What are you up to, this time? Isn't it enough that you're planning to take over the world against me? Do we really have to fight just after you get rescued and after I get a visit from Septum? I rather think we're both in bad moods."

"Who said anything about fighting, cousin? I just wanted a private word with you." Quatre glanced around the room. "If you have any bugs, now would be the time to deactivate them. I don't think either of us would want this conversation recorded."

"No bugs in this room. They were all in the main house. Now, what's this all about?"

Quatre drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair Touma had sat him in. "First off, thank you for taking care of Touma. I didn't want him to end up in the Alliance."

"I'm surprised he even applied - being raised by Rashid and living around you. Don't tell me either of you encouraged him."

"Certainly not. I had planned to keep his talents for myself after I overthrew the current government." Quatre's smile brightened. "Rashid was very thorough in Touma's training, but he never cared much for politics. His studies occupied his mind."

"All the same, he never caught a hint of disapproval of the Alliance being raised in that house?"

"Maybe he did, maybe he didn't." Quatre shrugged. "I think he wanted a place where he could use his intelligence the most. As for why we didn't give him the full lecture about the evils of the government, Touma has always been self-reliant. He did his own research and decided on his own what he wanted to do with his life. He believed that he could help people with the funding of the Alliance and, possibly, gain enough influence to improve the working of the government to benefit the people. Touma does nothing without reason, not even something so seemingly foolish as willingly joining the Alliance. Still, I am grateful that you were able to get a hold of his application before anyone else."

"Think nothing of it. He's family, after all. Though, I was wondering why I was suddenly asked to do a job interview when they usually leave that for low-level peons. I thought I'd been insulted again."

"Don't be silly. I just pulled a few strings, that's all. What's the point in being filthy rich if you don't use the money? Having Touma in OZ will give him a few years of experience before I take him away from you and have him help me to take over the world." There wasn't even a hint of a joke in Quatre's tone.

"What is this fixation you have with conquering Earth?" Treize asked.

Quatre smiled. "The challenge, naturally."

"Nothing more?"

"I'm afraid not. I could say something truly noble like, I'm doing it for all the poor downtrodden masses who suffer under the tyrannical rule of the oppressive Alliance, but we both know that would be a lie. I'm not nearly so altruistic. I want what's best for my family and I want what amuses me. Right now, it would amuse me to see the Alliance go down in flames."

Treize shook his head and took another drink. "Somehow, that doesn't surprise me. You planned to use your Gundam in your coup d'état?"

"Of course. Why else would I have agreed to work with those doctors? When they offered to make me a Gundam pilot, you can't imagine how pleased I was." Quatre smiled, apparently thinking back on what had happened. "The timing was perfect and Rashid supported me all the way."

"That surprises me," Treize admitted. "I rather thought he'd have been too protective to let you into a war."

"Don't be silly. Rashid's been training me to be a fighter since father virtually gave me to him. I decided that I could use my Gundam to destroy the Alliance and then take over Earth myself." There was a slightly disappointed look on Quatre's face. "I suppose that's not going to happen. Too many people have seen the Gundams to make them good for a surprise attack."

"Don't you think your fellow pilots would have objected to your plans?"

Quatre scowled. "They haven't been taught to think for themselves, really. If I hadn't had Rashid to take care of me and teach me, I'd have ended up no better than Trowa's cold mask or Wufei's stubborn anger at the world. I'm not even going to mention Heero. I'm going to have to find a way to help them. No, I don't think they'd know how to object. Even if they'd wanted to, I could have convinced them. I'm as good at manipulation as you are."

Treize sat back, thinking. "What about those doctors we had to get rid of earlier? You weren't the one doing the manipulating there, you have to admit. You'd been turned into a mindless killing machine."

"The Zero Program was... a miscalculation." His face went white and he swallowed hard. "That machine was destroyed, wasn't it?"

"I promise, it's completely gone. Your friend, Trowa, was most insistent about that. Now, what did you want to talk about? I'm sure you didn't have Hashiba-san abandon you so we could chat about your megalomaniac ambitions."

"No. I wanted to talk about YOUR megalomaniac ambitions."

"What about them?"

"I want to help. If I'm not going to rule the world, I think someone in my family should and I think you'd make a rather good dictator. Secondly, Septum is putting pressure on you for something you'd rather not give him. I think Septum is starting to suspect you aren't the dumb blonde everyone's taken you for all these years."

"Dumb blonde? That's something coming from you, 'Mister Sweet and Innocent'."

"Don't blame me if I'm a better actor than you. Now, it seems to me that we both have a problem. You need Septum out of your hair and my plans are almost completely ruined."

He continued with an expression that said he was very pleased with himself. "I think I can solve both of our problems with just a few minor adjustments to our goals."

Treize leaned forward. "Rajura-san made me an interesting offer, earlier. Why don't you tell me what you have in mind."

**Rajura-**

Rajura was just tired. _I need a vacation. A nice holiday by the seaside or maybe a camping trip._ The house seemed full. Everywhere Rajura went he saw people whether they were family, the hosts, or guards.

He couldn't find anywhere to sit and think so, instead, he kept wandering. He drifted by Shin and Naaza speaking in soft voices in the garden and slipped by Duo who led Chang-san across the lawn to a small shed. He saw Heero standing in a hallway looking somewhat lost. Everyone seemed to be adjusting well, but Rajura's mind kept running over practicalities.

_It's been years since I've had to live here. Centuries… everything's different._ The streets, buildings, clothes, money… everything. It pleased Rajura all the more, when he thought of the difficulties his family faced, that he'd made his offer to Kushranada-san.

"You want to start the war using the Gundams?"

Rajura paused at the door, hearing Treize's voice. Eavesdropping was both was fun and useful.

"Yes," Quatre replied. "If we combine your OZ forces with my four Gundams, we'll stand a very good chance of winning."

"YOUR four? Aren't you forgetting the other pilots? I'm sure they'll want a say in this." Treize's voice was amused. "They seem very attached to their toys."

"Leave them to me. Oh," Quatre paused. "Did I say four? I meant to say five."

"Five? Where's the fifth one? Who's the pilot?"

Quatre grinned. "There is no pilot. Something went wrong in the planning and the good doctors never found a fifth pilot. There's an empty Gundam sitting around somewhere in mothballs. I want it, Treize! It's just sitting there, waiting to be used. I just have to find the right pilot for Gundam 02."

"How did you find out about this? Did those doctors tell you?"

"They'd never admit a mistake and never to a mere 'tool'. No, I found it when I hacked into their computer systems one day. I know where it is and what its capabilities are. It's magnificent. I can't wait to see it in action."

Rajura, from where he was listening, raised an eyebrow at the audible lust in Quatre's voice. _This boy might be more fun than I'd thought._

Quatre continued, "Anyway, it won't be long before we have to do something. Septum is going to bring things to a head with his constant prodding."

Trieze replied, "I think he might suspect something about my plans, but he doesn't have enough evidence to take OZ away from me. I believe he's trying to provoke me into making a premature move." Treize continued more quietly, "My men aren't ready, even with your Gundam back-ups. The moral is high and Noin's got them doing wonders in the mobile suits, but their hand-to-hand combat is almost laughable. We haven't been able to get any decent instructors from the Alliance that we can trust enough to let onto the base."

Rajura swung open the door and stepped into the room. "I thought we'd discussed this issue. Or have you decided to refuse my offer?"

Kushranada-san raised an eyebrow. "Somehow I thought you might pop in. No. I haven't reneged on our agreement. I simply haven't told Quatre about it, yet. How long have you been listening?"

"More than you would like me to."

To his credit, Treize kept his face calm. "I would appreciate it if you wouldn't tell anyone what you know."

"Oh, don't worry. You're far too involved with my family for me to betray you. I just wanted to offer our help."

Not everyone was happy with the deal Rajura had worked out.

Naaza's dark thoughts, even as Shin left him in the garden, bit at Rajura. JUST BECAUSE WE HAVE TO STAY HERE DOESN'T MEAN WE HAVE TO HELP THESE MORTALS!

YOUR HATE IS GETTING THE BETTER OF YOU, AGAIN. Anubisu reprimanded Naaza from where he was sitting with Seiji at Noin-sama's bedside. ADMIT IT, YOUR BLOOD BOILS AT THE IDEA OF WAR, AS MUCH AS MINE DOES. TO LIVE THE REST OF OUR LONG LIVES IN HIDING WOULD SUIT NONE OF US. DO NOT PROTEST SO STRONGLY. WHAT ELSE IS THERE FOR US?

EXACTLY. Rajura added himself to the conversation. WE'VE BEEN STAGNANT FOR FAR TOO LONG. NOW WE CAN SET THE WORLD IN MOTION, AS WE DID WHEN WE WERE MORTAL AND LED THE CHARGE INTO BATTLE. WE CAN SHAPE THE WORLD.

Naaza was silent. Anubisu spoke, soft and seductive. THINK OF THE WEIGHT OF A SWORD IN YOUR HAND, LIKE AN OLD FRIEND. YOU CAN ALMOST HEAR ITS VOICE WHEN YOU WALK ONTO THE BATTLEFIELD. WE'LL WALK TOGETHER, SIDE-BY-SIDE, AND WE'LL MAKE THE WORLD REMEMBER US! THE NINGEN'S WILL TREMBLE UNDER OUR SHADOW, AS THEY DID LONG AGO.

Rajura could feel his own blood stirring at Anubisu's words. He could sometimes forget how persuasive Anubisu could be when he wanted to be. NAAZA, WE WON'T DO THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO. IT'S ALL OF US TOGETHER, OR NONE AT ALL.

DO AS YOU PLEASE. Naaza answered, sounding more tired than angry. I'LL FOLLOW WHERE YOU LEAD, RAJURA. IT'S WHAT SH'TEN WOULD HAVE WANTED. But there was a certain, small, amount of interest. Naaza did want to feel like he was doing something again. He wanted to feel strong and useful again.

With that encouragement, Rajura told Quatre, "I've offered the services of my brothers and myself as trainers for his army." He looked at Treize. "You will find no one more experienced, but we have no reason to implement our knowledge."

Trieze gave nothing a way by his expression. "I'm still considering your offer. Thank you, but it's getting late and I should see that everyone has some place to sleep." Treize stood and helped Quatre to his feet. They left the room together.

_The idea's planted and he won't find a better offer._ Rajura thought smugly. _Who else could say that their army was personally trained by three of the greatest warriors of all time?_

**Duo-**

Duo hummed happily while he rummaged through the storage shed tossing things and odd junk out of the way as he searched.

"What are you looking for?" Wufei asked from where he stood by the door.

"This and that." Duo shrugged absently. "Zechs was telling the truth. It wasn't Treize. Ryou's friend, Touma, did a little research for me."

Wufei sighed. "Yes. I know. I was with you, remember? What I want to know is why this is taking so long. One bullet will take care of this problem." He dodged aside when Duo threw a boot through the shed's door. "Do you mind? I'd like to get this done before Xiu comes looking for me. He gets irritated when I keep secrets from him and I really don't think I want to tell him that I'm going off to kill someone. He's sensitive."

"Just give me a minute." Duo shoved boxes out of his way and stepped over piles of rope. The Kushranada family had accumulated a lot of rubbish the over the years. Why one Earth did they have a glass frog in their shed? "If we're going hunting, I want the proper equipment. Why are you here anyway?"

Wufei's hissed, "He killed most of my clan and my wife. He killed my darling Meiran, not to mention nearly all of my cousins."

"I can take care of the revenge thing for you. You don't have to come along." Duo never turned from his search. "Wouldn't you rather be cuddling with Nasty-sama? You're supposed to do that with people you're in love with." Duo sighed, missing the look of extreme embarrassment on Wufei's face. "If I didn't have to go on this little trip, I'd lick Heero's ears until he squealed."

Wufei turned away from Duo.

"Then, I think I'd strip him naked and shackle him to a wall." Duo went sort of glassy eyed as he spoke. "Yeah. I wonder if Treize has a basement he'd let me use? You should be doing that sort of thing with Nasty-sama."

Wufei spluttered. "I'll have you know that I'd never take advantage of any young lady, let alone Nasty, like that!"

"Take advantage? What are you talking about?" Duo frowned and paused in his search to look at Wufei over his shoulder. "You're weird. My brothers told me all about sex. You do it with the people you love. You're so doppy for Nasty-sama it's funny. Why shouldn't you?"

"It's one thing to court a young lady," Wufei said primly, sounding as if he were giving a lecture. "But it's simply not done to touch her in such a way before being married. It's alright for you and Heero, but I'd have to worry about Nasty getting pregnant!"

Duo finally found what he was looking for a pulled a large, obviously old and well-used scythe out from the back of the garden shed. "Ah, ha! This'll do nicely." He exclaimed triumphantly. Then he asked, casually, "Pregnant? What's that?"

**To be continued...**


	36. Pregnant

**Chapter 36: Pregnant!?**

**Noin-**

She woke in pain and darkness. Slowly, as she reached a hand up to rub at her eyes, memories resurged. Noin sat bolt upright with a gasp. Two large hands took hold of her shoulders and pressed her back onto the bed. Instinctively, Noin kicked and tried to fight, but whoever held her just kept pressing on her shoulders.

"Fear not. The trouble has gone. You are safe."

Noin froze, then slowly relaxed. "Anubisu? What's going on? I can't see a thing."

"Forgive me." The hands left her shoulders and Noin heard footsteps cross the room. A door opened and light from the hall let Noin see. "Adequate?"

"Very." Noin breathed deeply in through her nose and settled herself more comfortably in the bed. Anubisu wasn't nearly so imposing when he was alone and speaking so softly. "How did we end up at Treize's house?"

"How do you know where we are?"

"He's got that Elvis painting in the hall. I can see it, just there. Ugly thing. What happened to that boy? The blonde kid."

"He's fine." Anubisu looked away, briefly. He stood stiffly by the door and kept his hands at his sides. "A few minor injuries, but nothing that couldn't be handled easily."

"But his hand! I think I broke it." She couldn't seem to remember everything exactly clear. "It wasn't his fault. He was... "

"Yes, we know." His voice, though rough, was soothing. "Just lay down, please. Seiji-kun had to leave for a moment and I promised I wouldn't let you hurt yourself. He said you should stay in bed for a while."

Reluctantly, Noin lay down. She was sore, but not so much as she'd thought she would be, and it felt good to lay still in the darkness.

"I apologize for being with you while you were resting." Anubisu shifted on his feet and wouldn't look at her. "If you would rather that I leave you, I'll let Nasutei-san know you'd prefer another lady for company."

"No, no," Noin assured him. "This is fine. Why should I want you to leave?"

Anubisu flushed, even in the half-darkness. "You… ah… your clothes were in a state of disarray. Nasutei-sama decided it would be best to have them laundered." He gestured at her. "Your are wearing her nightclothes."

Noin looked down at herself. Indeed, she was wearing what looked like one of Nasty's old t-shirts and could feel that she was wearing sweatpants. "Yes. And?"

"A lady should not have a man, a stranger, in her bedchambers. Certainly not while in a state of undress. It is unseemly."

Noin laughed. "I'm a fully trained soldier. I don't worry about unwanted advances too often." Her stomach churned when she thought of how she'd woken up. If he'd meant to harm her, she wasn't sure would have been able to defend herself, especially since Anubisu was built like a brick chicken house.. "Besides, that's a very old fashioned point of view, isn't it?"

"I'm a very old fashioned man."

A soft whine brought Noin's attention to her left. "Byakuen?"

"Your brother," Anubisu said. "Very properly, does not want to leave his sister alone with a man who might cause you harm. Seiji wanted Byakuen to stay to ensure that I wouldn't do anything to hurt you while he was gone."

Noin sighed. With how protective she'd been of Seiji since she'd found him, it really shouldn't be a surprise that he'd turn it around on her. "I'm sorry about that. I didn't think he'd worry so much."

"Why wouldn't he?"

"It's hard to tell what he's thinking." To change the painful subject, she asked, "Tell me, how old are you?" Just how old fashioned? Was the armor he wore genuine? What connected him to Seiji? There was just so much mystery surrounding Anubisu and his friends and she'd never really gotten any answers from Seiji.

"I don't think you'd believe me if I told you." He answered with a sad sort of smile.

"Try me. I'm a big girl."

Anubisu remained silent until Noin was sure he wasn't going to tell her a thing. Noin let herself lay down more comfortably, still a little sore from what had happened. "That machine, the one that made the poor boy go nuts. What happened to it?"

"I believe Treize had it destroyed."

"You believe?" Noin frowned. "Don't you know? It's very dangerous and does horrible things to people."

Anubisu shrugged. "I was occupied at the time, helping with the man who made that machine."

"Helping?"

He looked away. "It is not proper to speak of such things in front of a lady. I will not tell you what we did to him. I will tell you that he will not come back."

"I'm not a lady."

He, for the first time, gave a small, teasing smile. "Really?"

Noin blushed, hotly. "I mean, I'm a soldier. I've seen and done some very bad things. You can tell me what happened."

"No. I can't. The world seems so different, now, and people have changed a great deal. I remember women being far more fragile. You may be a soldier, but in my eyes, you are a lady and I there are some things I will not say or do in front of you."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Noin told him, bluntly. "Will you tell me what's going on with Seiji and all of you?" She reached out and poked his armored arm. "This armor... I saw you bring down lightening with just a sword, at Treize's party. I know Seiji can heal people. I've seen such strange... " Noin looked closer at Anubisu's broad face. "I saw... I saw you... I think. That was you, wasn't it? That was you that turned into a blue wolf."

Anubisu met her eyes. "Yes, that was me. I'm not human nor have I been one for a very long time. My brothers, including Seiji, are human, but they are not mortal as you are. Not any longer. I will tell you everything, if you are feeling well enough."

Noin pulled herself up into a sitting position, with a little help from Anubisu. "I've been feeling well enough to hear this for a long time. Seiji won't tell me and there's been no time to ask anyone else."

"Seiji is afraid that you will reject him." He looked away. "We have not often been welcomed by our mortal families because of what we are. It is a very real fear for Seiji and he told me that he has chosen to be a coward. He asked me to tell you and if you react badly, he will not try to see you, again. It's your choice, really."

"He thinks I'll reject him!?" Noin almost shouted and pounded her fist on the bed. "It took me years just to find him. I don't care what kind of secret he has; Seiji is my only family. I'm not going to turn him away for anything. I love Seiji and he can tell me anything."

Her passionate declaration didn't move Anubisu at all. "Wait until you hear the secret and then give your opinion. Seiji is now my family, too. I will not have him hurt needlessly."

**Later that night-  
Nasty-**

Nasty had spent hours in front of her computer, typing and searching until her fingers were almost too sore to move. In the end, she let her hands drop from the keyboard and let out and exhausted sigh. There was nothing, absolutely no evidence, to connect Dorothy to Grandfather Yagiyu's murder. The only possible link was the fact that on the day of the murder Dorothy hadn't gone to school and that was a very thin connect, at best.

Nasty left the computer chair to sit on the small sofa in her bedroom and looked around. Mama Fan had already come in and fallen asleep on Nasty's bed with little Lai curled up next to her. The food she'd brought for Nasty was cold and unappetizing on the side-table. Still, Nasty picked up the plate of pasta and ate. She went to a window and looked down at the driveway where OZ soldiers walked back and forth, pacing near the entrance of the house.

"Nasutei-sama?" Kay stood uneasily in the open bathroom door wearing the spare clothes Nasty had given her.

"You can sleep on the sofa. I'm afraid the bed's going to be a bit full tonight and Noin has the spare room. When the mansion's repaired you can have your own room. It won't be long, now."

"Are we staying so long?"

The question took Nasty aback. "Well… only if you want to, I suppose. Do you want to?"

Kay tugged at the hem of the nightshirt she wore. On Nasty, the nightshirt was slightly sexy and showed off lots of leg. On Kay, it looked like a very big T-shirt. _She'll be beautiful, one day_. Nasty thought with a smile. _I'll have to see she gets introduced to some acceptable young men when the time comes._ After all, Nasty didn't want Kay to get involved with some guy that was going to be unworthy of her or treat her badly. _I think I've just gotten myself a little sister._

"Yes. I think I would like that. It depends on what Rajura decides, though. Are you sure it's alright for me to wear this?" Kay tugged again at the bottom of the nightshirt to try and make it cover her knees. "I'm sure Rajura wouldn't like this. It's too short."

"Of course he wouldn't," Nasty replied. "Big brothers are like that. They don't like to admit it when little sisters start to grow up. You look just fine. Besides, there's no one here but us girls, so there's no reason for you to feel self-conscious. Are you ready for bed?"

"Yes, Nasutei-sama." Kay obediently came to sit on the sofa.

"You don't have to call me Nasutei-sama. Just Nasty will do."

Kay shook her head. "Rajura says that I must always be polite and mind my manners. He said that you're a lady and your family has been very kind to us by letting us stay here until we can find somewhere to live."

Nasty laughed and gave Kay a brief hug. "You're such a sweet girl, Kay. Your brothers are lucky to have you."

"Do you think so?"

"Oh, yes. I think they think so, too. Rajura and the others have been so worried about you. He's afraid that you're still hurt from whatever the man who kidnapped you did. And you won't talk to him."

"Saranbo didn't hurt me, not really. He just made me think... weird things. He made me feel things, too. I don't want to think about it, but I can't stop. I know Rajura didn't have any choice. He couldn't remember me. But... "

"Is Rajura the head of your family?" Nasty asked.

"Hmm? Oh," Kay was dragged out of her dark memories and a soft smile touched her face. "Yes. Mama Sh'ten was the leader when they went into war, but Rajura always took care of us. He used to read me bedtime stories and he didn't let Duo tease me when we were little. He didn't do the cooking, though. Naaza always says Rajura can ruin rice without trying, so Naaza did the cooking. Rajura used to sing to me at bedtime."

"He sings?" For some reason, the image of stern, serious Rajura singing a bedtime song made Nasty smile.

As if she could see Nasty's thoughts, Kay told her, "Rajura's wasn't always so worried. Before... everything happened we were very happy. We all had lots of fun. Back then it was Mama Sh'ten who worried most about the battles, but they weren't very serious because we always won. Mama Sh'ten spent his time writing and Naaza painted such beautiful pictures. Anubisu made fancy wooden toys for me, when I was a child. He's a very good carver."

"So," Nasty asked. "What did Rajura used to sing to you?"

Kay blushed. "It's kind of a silly song, but it was my song. Rajura never sang it for Ryou or Duo. It was just for me."

"Will you sing it for me?"

Kay cleared her throat before singing:

Koi no arai  
Tabu no ko umani

As she sang, Kay's eyes started to water and she finished by wiping her eyes. "Nastuei-sama, please, excuse me. I think I should go speak to Rajura. I won't be long."

"Come back when you're done talking."

**Xiu-**

It was Rajura who'd called them all together and Xiu wasn't sure he was comfortable with Rajura putting himself in command. Of course, Rajura did know more than any of them about the yoroi so maybe it was only right that they followed his lead. They were meeting outside, in a small clearing in the forest near Treize's house.

Naaza had assured them that none of Treize's soldiers were close enough to listen, and they gathered around a fire Ryou had lit for them. It was the middle of the night and the completely dark house told them that everyone else was fast asleep, but Rajura seemed to think this was a very important matter and needed absolute secrecy. Xiu, Touma, and Shin sat together on a fallen log, while Ryou spoke with Anubisu. Anubisu, who had only just arrived with Byakuen, spoke to him quietly before whispering to Rajura about something.

"What's that all about?" Shin asked when Ryou came to sit with them on the fallen log.

HE'S COURTING NOIN-SAMA. Ryou told them, letting Seiji hear his thoughts, too. Ryou was clearly very happy about this and didn't see any reason to hide the fact, even though Seiji glowered at the news.

HE WON'T HURT MY SISTER. Seiji said firmly.

OF COURSE HE WON'T. ANUBISU AND RAJURA ARE IN LOVE WITH HER. THEY'LL TAKE VERY GOOD CARE OF HER. Ryou let his feelings of happiness float around everyone. THEN WE'LL BE EVEN CLOSER. OUR FAMILIES WILL BE LINKED.

Xiu wasn't overly concerned about Ryou and Seiji's family relations, right then. He knew that they'd work it out once Noin decided what she wanted. He was more concerned with what he thought they were going to discuss tonight. He wanted to know what they were going to do now that they all had this yoroi and nothing to do with it.

"We have an opportunity to do something truly grand," Rajura started, brining Xiu out of his thoughts. "Treize is having a bit of difficulty in a little war he wants to start. I think we should help him."

Xiu's mouth fell open and he wasn't alone in his shock.

Shin gasped out, "Are you mad? We don't want to start a war! I don't want to fight, that last time was bad enough and Sh'ten died! What if someone else dies?" He looked to Naaza. "You can't be serious about this."

Naaza met Shin's eyes easily. "I'm a warrior, like Sh'ten. We've been conditioned for many years to love war. There is a thrill to marching out onto the battlefield."

"Don't say that!" Shin snapped, suddenly irritated with his new friend. "That's a horrible thing to say!"

Ryou spoke in Rajura's defense. HEAR HIM OUT. RAJURA'S SMART AND HE ALWAYS HAS REASON FOR WHAT HE DOES. HE WOULDN'T WORK WITH NINGENS OUT OF THE GOODNESS OF HIS HEART, YOU KNOW.

"Oh, we won't be actually fighting. We will probably never even be on the war field." Rajura said, a soft, wicked smile touching his lips. "Anubisu, Naaza, and myself are going to be training Treize's soldiers. We just want you five along because you also need training."

"Why?" As usual, Seiji was short and to the point.

"Whoever heard of five young men who couldn't fight?" Naaza said from where he leaned against a tree. "This modern world is absurd. Ryou is already half-way trained and you are more than decent in your fighting ability, but Shin and Touma can barely defend themselves... "

"What are you talking about?" Touma demanded, sounding more than a little insulted. "Rashid taught me to fight most of my life. I'm trained to be a professional soldier."

"Exactly," Anubisu said. "You should not be a soldier. Soldiers take commands and do what they are told without question. We want you to question your orders if they don't seem right. You have a brain and you should use it. You should be able to see a situation and deal handle it without orders or asking permission. You are destined to be a warrior, not a soldier."

Touma glowered. "I don't believe in destiny. I can decide my own fate."

"Can you? That the orb of Tenku found you, and that you were already closely known to both the bearers of Kongo and Suiko, can not all be coincidence. Destiny controls us, whether you like it or not."

Touma leaned against Xiu. I DON'T THINK I LIKE HIM VERY MUCH.

Xiu put his arm around Touma, liking the feel of Touma's thin shoulders under his arm. Life was getting comfortable with both Touma and Shin and he was more than a little relieved when he'd heard that Naaza had refused Shin's offer to 'spend some time together.' Shin was a very loving, caring guy, but Xiu just didn't understand why he felt such pity for Naaza. Yeah, it was awful that Naaza had lost Sh'ten, but that didn't mean Shin had to...

IT'S NOT PITY. Shin told him, moving closer to Xiu and Touma. HE NEEDS SOMEONE AND I LIKE HIM. IT'S NOT SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND, SURELY.

"Anyway," Rajura said loudly enough to get everyone's attention back on him. "I know very little about this Alliance that Treize hates so much, but I do know that I don't like them." His eye darkened. "Duo's gone off to kill one of the Alliance generals and... "

"He what?!" Ryou jumped to his feet, away from where he was sitting at Seiji's feet. DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT THIS ALLIANCE KILLS PEOPLE ALL THE TIME? Ryou thought to everyone. THEY KILL SPYS WITHOUT TRIALS AND INTRUDERS ON THEIR BASES TEND TO VANISH? Then he looked back at Rajura. "Why didn't you tell me? He'll get killed, I should be there to keep him safe."

"Don't worry, Ryou-chan." Rajura smirked. "Duo's learned from the best. He won't get caught and, if I know that boy like I think I do, he'll come back to us without so much as a scratch."

Still, Xiu could feel Ryou's worry for his brother and he understood it. "You haven't told us why we should help to start a war. We don't want anyone to get killed."

"I shouldn't have to remind you how we met." Rajura gave Xiu a flat look. "Besides, if you want reasons, I'm sure Touma can find any number of atrocities that the Alliance has committed on that computer thing. You don't have to do any real fighting. I just want you near us because we're now family."

"I will stay with Luc," Seiji said firmly.

"And I want to stay with Seiji, so I'll be near you because Noin's one of Treize's soldiers." Ryou smiled, pleased that he would still be with family. Ryou went to stand near Seiji, a place he seemed very comfortable, and smiled at Xiu and his loves. "You'll come with us, won't you?"

There was an almost blinding innocence in Ryou's eyes. Xiu knew, though their link, that bad things had happened to Ryou in his life, but none of it seemed to effect Ryou's bright outlook on life. He was desperately hoping for the best and the best would be for them all to be together.

Rajura said, turning his attention to Shin, Touma, and Xiu. "You three will find it... uncomfortable to be away from your brothers. It would be simplest for you to remain together, but it is your choice."

Touma thought carefully. "I can't just leave Rashid and Abdul. They've been like parents to me and I know Rashid's not real crazy about the Alliance, but I don't know what he thinks about Treize. After all, Treize acts like he owns the Alliance."

"I need to talk with Trowa and Catherine," Shin said. "Catherine is expecting me to go home, back to the circus. I don't know what's she'd say if I told her I was going to join a war." He seemed nervous and thought to Xiu, CATHERINE HATES WARS. SHE'LL BE FURIOUS WITH ME.

THEN, YOU'RE GOING WITH THEM? Touma asked, rubbing the back of Shin's hand.

I WANT TO BE WITH YOU. He looked around, not just at Xiu and Touma, but also at Ryou and Seiji. RAJURA'S TELLING THE TRUTH. I REALLY DON'T WANT TO BE AWAY FROM ANY OF YOU. IT WOULD JUST BE WEIRD.

Shin's unwillingness to be parted from any of them made Xiu's answer harder, though. He was the one who was going to separate them. "I'm not going." Immediately, he felt distress from Ryou, worry from Shin and Touma, and nothing from Seiji.

Rajura looked at him calmly, but said nothing.

"I can't leave my mama to run the restaurant and raise Lai all by herself. She needs me." Xiu said, feeling like he was defending himself. "I just can't. If you're going to start a war, that's all the more reason that I have to stay with her. I have to protect her and Lai."

"It's your choice." Rajura repeated.

**Heero-  
**

They'd been given Kushranada's bedroom to use. Spare beds had been moved from the main house to the one they currently used, squeezed into every available spot. Three beds had somehow been moved into the room, all pushed together. Down the hall, in what Kushranada called a lounge, Rajura and his brothers would sleep, while Seiji and his friends were given room in the parlor.

Heero stood in the corner of the room he would share with his fellow almost pilots. After all the training he'd gone through it hardly seemed fair that the war had been cancelled so early. He wished that, at least, he would have been able to stay with Seiji. Quatre, however, had asked Kushranada to bunk them - Heero, Duo, Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei - together.

Quatre lay comfortably on one bed and coughed pathetically, taking the glass of water when Trowa handed it to him with a tiny smile.

There was something going on between the two, but Heero couldn't put his finger on it.

"Have a seat, Heero," Quatre invited. "You don't have to stand in the corner like that. You'll be sleeping here, too, so you may as well make yourself comfortable." Quatre gestured weakly to the small couch against one wall. "I'm afraid we're all at a loose end here, so we've really got no place to stay. You're welcome to come stay in my home, Heero. It's rather large so there would be no problems with space." Then he shifted to Trowa and spoke more shyly. "You're welcome to stay, too."

Heero took in the information and stored it away, wondering if he should say anything in response. He had expected to stay with Seiji, but what if Seiji and his sister didn't want Heero with them? Perhaps Quatre's offer would come in useful.

They'd been sitting together for a while and it seemed to Heero that Quatre spoke a lot, but was saying very little. He seemed happy enough to just babble about little, unimportant things. _It's night,_ Heero thought, looking out of the window. _We should be asleep._ He was still in the habit of sleeping when he was told, though, and he wasn't sure when he would be allowed to lay down and get some rest.

"What do you think you'll be doing?" Quatre asked Heero, only to get a blank look in return.

Heero frowned. _Doing? Doing about what? Should I be doing something?_

After waiting several minutes and not getting an answer, Quatre put the same question to Trowa.

"I suppose I'll just go back to the circus with Shin and Catherine." Trowa spoke without enthusiasm, though. It was as if it really didn't matter. "I have been training for this war for such a long time, I don't know how to do much else other than fight."

Quatre patted Trowa's hand. "Don't worry about it too much. I'm sure we'll find some way to keep us busy."

"I will find a job," Trowa told Quatre. "I will not let myself become useless."

"Oh," Quatre said, widening his eyes. "I never thought you'd be useless. I didn't mean to say that. It just seems like a bit of a waste to have a pilot trained to fly a machine built for global devastation wasting his skills working in a supermarket. But, where would you ever find a job where the requirements include stealth, computer expertise, strategic knowledge, and a license to pilot a Gundam?"

Trowa blinked, thinking as he turned away from Quatre.

_I think I had better ask Duo about this,_ Heero thought. _Duo's smart and I'm sure he'll know what I should do. He's been living a 'normal' life longer than I have, so he'll know how I get a job._ Heero already knew he was pretty much useless unless he managed to find some kind of position in the military. Joining the same army he'd been trained to kill was not an appealing idea.

Trowa seemed be thinking the same thing. "I can't join the Alliance. It would be... wrong."

"The Alliance?" Quatre smiled sweetly, the only expression his face seemed to have. "Oh, I wasn't even dreaming of us joining the Alliance. No, that just wouldn't do at all." He reached out and put his hand on Trowa's knee. "Don't worry. An opportunity will just fall into our laps."

Trowa looked at Quatre and got a puzzled expression on his face. "Quatre, are you hiding something?"

"Hiding? What are you talking about?"

"Your voice... it doesn't sound normal."

Heero had been trained in many things, not only computers and weapons. He had been trained to read facial expressions and body language so he'd be able to infiltrate the enemy bases and do espionage work. Trowa was right. Quatre was hiding something.

Quatre looked slightly guilty, but kept smiling. "Well, I may have an idea of what we could do with our time. It may seem like a strange idea, but I want to wait until Wufei comes back. It'll involve him, too."

"What will involve me?" Wufei asked, walking through the door and throwing his coat on a chair before taking a seat next to Heero on the sofa.

Quatre didn't answer right away, but said, "You were gone for a while."

"Duo and I have been busy." A satisfied smile spread across Wufei's face. "Just tying up a loose end."

"A loose end?" Quatre frowned. "What kind of loose end?"

"We were making sure that a man who deserved death, got what he deserved." Duo replied happily, coming in and, seeing that the seat next to Heero was taken by Wufei, sat on Heero's lap instead. He seemed to like that seat best and cuddled into Heero, not caring that there were other people in the room. "Did you miss me, sweetie?"

"Yes." Heero surprised himself with the answer, but it was true. Duo had only been gone a few hours and Heero had missed him terribly. "You killed someone?"

Duo nodded proudly, though his eyes darkened and Heero recognized that this was a different Duo. "Oh, yeah. He's very dead. We made him suffer for everything he did."

"Septum?" Quatre guessed.

"Yes." Wufei gave him a puzzled look. "How did you know?"

"He visited earlier, I'm told, so I'd assumed that you'd heard about the horrible things he's done. Anyway, about my idea... " Quatre paused and looked at Duo. "Are you spending the night with Heero, Duo?"

"Yep." Duo lay his head against Heero's shoulder.

"Maybe you should go tell your family where you are, so they don't worry."

Duo sprung off Heero's lap and ran for the door. "Good idea. Rajura tends to worry."

After the door had closed behind Duo, Quatre wasted no time. "I didn't want Duo to hear this, I'm not sure how he'd react. We have all had an offer from Treize."

"What kind of offer?" Wufei asked.

"To become his bodyguards."

There was a heavy silence, as everyone thought it through. Wufei looked irritated, at best, and growled at Quatre, "I hope you didn't answer for us when Treize made this offer."

"Oh no, of course not. I wouldn't do something like that. But, I did think that considering his ambitions to overthrow the Alliance, it might be sensible to join him. After all, he's a very important political man and there are bound to be assassins after him. Who's better qualified to keep him alive than us?"

Wufei thought this over. "You may have a point. But I'm not going to give him my loyalty without good reason. How do we know what his real ambitions are?"

"We'll just have to wait and see what he does, I suppose," Quatre answered. "But I think if we're going to be doing this, we should do it as a team. In a way, we were all trained to work together on a similar cause. The cause has just changed a little, that's all."

"We should sleep on this," Trowa announced. "Give everyone time to think."

They all went to bed after Duo came back, telling them that Rajura had said it was all right for him to spend the night with Heero so long as Heero didn't hurt him. Duo laughed as he crawled under Heero's blankets and snuggled up close. "I don't think Rajura has anything to worry about, though. I think I'm more likely to get physical than you are, nezumi."

Not long after, everyone had lay down to sleep. Heero lay between Duo and the wall, secure that at least one of his sides wasn't vulnerable. Over Duo's softly rising and falling chest, he could see Quatre's fair hair and Trowa's shoulder from where he slept just beyond Quatre. Furthest away, and closest to the door, Wufei could be heard snoring.

"You can sleep, now." Quatre raised up enough, leaning on his elbow. "You don't have to wait for orders anymore. That's what you're doing, isn't it? I'm sorry I didn't realize sooner. Get some rest." Quatre looked down at Duo and smiled before he looked back at Heero. "Death needs a fitting steed, don't you think?"

What Quatre was referring to, Heero didn't know, because just then Quatre closed his eyes and seemed to fall asleep.

Heero, thankful that someone had finally given permission, allowed himself to fall asleep.

**A short while later-  
Kaosu-**

He appeared in the room when the last of the women had fallen asleep and stood over the quiet body of the girl he'd found. He'd been watching her since his master had charged him with his mission. He lowered his staff over her body and concentrated, doing what he knew he had to do.

**Nasty-**

Nasty woke up and immediately knew something was different. With a hand to her mouth, she jumped to her feet and ran to the bathroom where she instantly hit her knees and started praying to the porcelain goddess.

Ten minutes later, and feeling much better, Nasty wandered out and wondered what had brought that on. _I'll call the doctor tomorrow. I'd hate to come down with a flu now. I still have to make arrangements for grandfather and sort out what to do about Dorothy. I can't afford any more complications in my life right now._

**Kenbukyou-**

Sh'ten's body had vanished.

It was... disturbing, to say the very least. Deep in his castle, nothing should have been able to enter without his notice. Certainly, nothing should have been able to get into the human's tomb. It had been pure coincidence that Kenbukyou had been wandering by the tomb of the fallen samurai and seen the stone slab was bare.

He'd stopped and stared for a long time. "Guards!"

His guards answered as quickly as he knew they would and saluted smartly.

"We've been invaded. Why did you not know of it?"

The two guards looked between each other nervously. "Sire, we heard and saw nothing. The barriers you placed around the castle to detect intruders have not been disturbed."

Kenbukyou was even less pleased by that news. "Are you suggesting that one of MY own people has dared to desecrate the body of an honored warrior? A warrior who made my rise to power possible? A warrior who gave his life for the betterment of our people?"

"No, sire!" The immediately answered. "Never would one of our people do such a thing."

"You are dismissed. Rouse everyone. Have them search the castle from top to bottom. I will have no one resting until the Oni Ma-Sho's body is found!"

"Yes, sire!" The saluted and ran off.

'How am I going to tell Rajura that I 'lost' Sh'ten?' Kenbukyou thought. Though he'd never admit it to anyone, he was worried. The child, Ryou, controlled Kikoutei, and Ryou had loved Sh'ten. If Ryou became angry enough to wake Kikoutei or if Rajura ordered Ryou to do it... there was no telling what devastation the white yoroi could wreak on both worlds.

Kenbukyou should know. After all, he had once worn Kikoutei. Long ago, when the white yoroi had been created, it had been Kenbukyou that the yoroi had chosen to wear it.

_That was all so long ago, though._ He thought, still looking at Sh'ten's empty tomb. _Before the yoroi had been divided and before Arago had been sealed away in the Youja Kai. Before I loved a mortal woman and before I had my son._

Kenbukyou turned and walked briskly away from the tomb, trying to rid his mind of the painful memories. It was one of the problems of never aging. Everyone aged and died while he could only sit by and helplessly watch. Even a woman with hair so fair it was almost white and sons who loved to tell wild tales.

It was no use. Their faces were, as always, stuck in his mind. Though he loved them dearly, even after so many hundreds of years, Kenbukyou couldn't help but feel it was some sort of punishment.

_I'll never have any peace with them in my mind. It doesn't help that my son's so near._ Once back at his chambers, Kenbukyou sat in his chair that overlooked his kingdom out of a small window. A kingdom he would gladly give up if he could have his family back again. _I wish I could have stopped him being chosen as one of the bearers. It's not a pleasant fate. At least I know that he isn't alone, like I was. Like I am. He has the other parts of his soul, the other yoroi bearers._

**Naaza-**

Naaza's sleep was rudely broken.

Warm.

Familiar.

Comfort.

Naaza sat bolt upright, gasping for air. He clutched at his head and a whine escaped his throat. It took him a moment to realize that both Rajura and Anubisu were also awake and breathing heavily.

HE'S BACK.

Naaza looked up sharply at pale, shaken Anubisu. ALIVE?

ALIVE. Rajura was rubbing at his chest HE'S BACK.

Naaza felt numb as his love's unmistakable presence dawned in their collective mind. It was a soft and gentle feeling, not at all like the wicked and slightly twisted man Naaza had grown to love, but it was Sh'ten. His unique flavor was there and... and... it was not something one could put into words.

HE'S ALIVE. Naaza jumped to his feet and ran to where Rajura and Anubisu who were just as stunned as Naaza was. HE'S ALIVE! HE'S ALIVE! HE'S COME BACK TO ME! Naaza threw his arms around and knock them all onto the floor.

NOW, NAAZA, Rajura started, petting Naaza's hair to comfort him. CALM DOWN. WE HAVE TO TAKE THIS SLOWLY. WE DON'T KNOW WHERE HE IS, OR HOW HE'S COME BACK. HIS THOUGHTS DON'T FEEL EXACTLY THE SAME. HE MIGHT NOT EVEN BE AWARE OF US.

YOU TOOK HIS ORB, REMEMBER? Anubisu told him. HE WON'T BE REALLY CONNECTED WITH US UNTIL HE HAS IT, AGAIN.

I'LL FIND HIM. Naaza told them. I DON'T CARE WHERE I GO OR WHAT I HAVE TO DO, I'LL FIND HIM.

**The next morning-  
Nasty-**

As much as she couldn't afford any complications in her life, Nasty was pretty sure she had one by about seven in the morning. After a failed attempt to eat Mama Fan's breakfast, Nasty found herself staggering to the bathroom again with a churning stomach. When she was nearly there, Nasty ran into something solid.

"Nasty? Are you alright?"

Nasty looked up and saw Wufei looking down at her, concerned. He was, despite the early hour, perfectly dressed and had his hair combed back into a neat pig tail. "Bathroom... now." Nasty said, pushing her way passed him and running the last few feet to the bathroom.

Nasty hadn't had time to close the door behind her before throwing up and Wufei took advantage of the open door to come in and hold back her long hair for her. When the heaves had stopped, Wufei was rubbing her back.

"Thanks," Nasty turned her face away from him when she stood. "I don't know what's come over me. I can't keep anything down." She bent over the sink to rinse her mouth out. "I think I'm coming down with a flu or something. It's nothing terrible."

When Nasty turned around Wufei put a hand on her forehead. "You haven't got a fever. I think you should go speak with Auntie Fan. She's very good with this sort of thing."

So that's what Nasty did, but Mama Fan declared that it wasn't flu. "I'm not sure exactly what's wrong." Mama Fan confessed when she had Nasty seated in the kitchen and Wufei stood at the door, just watching. "You've been sick since when?"

"Since about three this morning and then just after I tried to eat, now. I feel fine, otherwise." Nasty couldn't help but think that this was all a bit of a big fuss over nothing. It was just a bout of throwing up, surely something had just disagreed with her stomach.

With hundreds of generations of family cures on her side, Mama Fan took it very seriously. She bustled around the kitchen, her cooking forgotten, while she began pulling herbs and spices from here and there along with bottles of this and that. "I should go back to the restaurant. I have better ingredients there." Mama Fan mixed several of the things she'd gathered together in a glass of cold water then handed it to Nasty. "Here, drink this, dear."

Nasty swallowed it all, after an encouraging nod from Wufei, and managed to swallow it all in just a few gulps. "That wasn't half bad. What was it for?"

"Oh, just something to settle your stomach. I do think you should go see your doctor, though."

Wufei stepped forward and asked, "Doctor? What for? Do you think it's so serious that you can't do anything for her?"

"Hush, Wufei darling. This really isn't any of your business." Mama Fan ran a hand affectionately through Wufei's hair as she walked briskly passed him, ignoring his insulted expression, and picked up the phone. "Now, your doctor's number is right here, isn't it?" She scanned the numbers posted by the phone. "Ah, yes! Here it is. Doctor Butterfly, huh? That's a colorful name, isn't it?" She was dialing while she spoke, apparently not willing to listen to any discussion. "Hello? Yes. I'm calling for Yagiyu Nasutei, just a general check up and blood work. Yes, you can expect her at eleven. Thank you."

"Mama!" Nasty exclaimed. "I can't go to the doctor's just for an upset stomach. It's foolish."

Like she'd done with Wufei, Mama Fan patted Nasty's hair. "Nothing's foolish when it comes to your health, dear. Now, I think that nice young man, Zechs, should drive you to the doctor's. Why don't you run and ask him, dear?"

**Zechs-**

Zechs had naturally agreed to take Nasty to doctor Butterfly's office. When Treize had suggested to Mama Fan that Dr. Butterfly would come to them, she had flatly refused. "Nasty spends far too much time alone here. It's good for her to get out and about once in a while."

"Mrs. Fan, our grandfather was just murdered. There are a lot of reporters and other riff-raff about I would prefer Nasty not be exposed to. If Nasty's sick, Dr. Butterfly can come here. Besides, what to you mean alone? This house is more crowded than it's been in decades."

"Don't you trust Zechs to take care of your sister?" Mama Fan asked with a sly smile.

Treize laughed. "Oh! That's fighting dirty, Mrs. Fan. All right, I give in."

That was how Zechs ended up in Dr. Butterfly's office. It was actually a nice place, as normal looking as any other doctor's office, with the possible exception of a large, psychedelic painting of a man with a banana in one ear. Zechs had seen the painting many times, but he still couldn't make any sense of it.

"Mr. Marques?" A nurse came out of the office. "Will you please step into Dr. Butterfly's office?"

He found Nasty sitting in a chair looking pale and shaking. Whatever was wrong had to be bad to affect Nasty so badly. Zechs put a hand on her shoulder and looked at Dr. Butterfly who was writing something in his notes.

"Now, Yagiyu-san, I want you to go to this doctor." He handed her a note. "She's very good. I went to school with her and I feel sure you'd like her. Tell her everything I just told you and these are some vitamins I want you to start taking."

"Vitamins?" Zechs took the list from Dr. Butterfly and looked at it, but didn't see anything odd about the list. "What for?"

"Yo, dude." Dr. Butterfly, who had seemed relatively normal while talking to Nasty, turned back to his hippie personality. "What's up?"

Zechs was in no mood to play games if Nasty might be sick. After all, she was practically a sister to him. "Just tell me what's happened."

"Zechs-kun," Nasutei said, sounding shocked and frightened. "He says I'm pregnant."

'This can't be happening.' Zechs thought, just imaging what Treize would say when he heard. Nasty definitely wasn't the type of girl to fool around with just anyone and the only guy she'd ever shown interest in was that young man, Wufei, and he was several years younger than she was - practically a child. Surely, they hadn't known each other long enough to... Then again, Wufei was a teenage boy. Full of hormones and little of anything else, if he was a normal teenager. What if... ?

"That's right. I'm pleased to be the one to give the happy news." Dr. Butterfly said cheerfully. "Yagiyu-san is going to be a mother."

Nasty insisted, "You've made some kind of mistake, doctor. I can't be pregnant."

From the look on Dr. Butterfly's face, this wasn't the first time Nasty had protested. "Actually, you can. I'd say it's very recent, just a few days, at most. Congratulations."

"No. You really don't understand. I'm a virgin. I CAN'T be pregnant. It's impossible."

Dr. Butterfly looked down at the charts and reread everything. "Yagiyu-san, you ARE pregnant. There is no mistake. I can redo the tests for you, if that's what you want, but it won't change anything. You are undeniably pregnant."

Nasty paled and swayed, covering her face with her hands for a moment before getting a hold of herself. "I'm serious, doctor. I've never had sex. Never. Not once, ever. This is simply impossible."

Dr. Butterfly sat down next to the expectant mother. "May I ask you a few frank questions?"

"Of course."

"Have you recently been to any parties where you've been drinking or indulged in drugs? Your memory could be impaired, if you've been doing any such thing. If someone had slipped something into your drink, a date rape drug, perhaps... "

"No." Nasty shook her head. "The last party I was at was my brother's and that was several weeks ago. I didn't get drunk and I don't do drugs. I left after about twenty minutes, for goodness sakes!"

"Well, then," Dr. Butterfly shut his folder and threw it onto his desk. "I have only one explanation."

"Yes?" Nasty sat forward expectantly.

"Immaculate Conception."

Nasty's mouth fell open.

Zechs snarled at Dr. Butterfly. "What are you trying to say?! Do you think we're stupid enough to believe... ?"

"Yagiyu-san has denied any sexual activity, yet she is undeniably pregnant. There is no father known and therefore I suggest Immaculate Conception." Dr. Butterfly's expression turned serious. "Can you think of another explanation?"

Zechs balled his hands into fists. "Are you saying that Nasty is going to give birth to the messiah?"

"Peace, dude. I'm saying that Yagiyu-san is going to be a mother, nothing more. If you really don't want the baby, Yagiyu-san, there are options. You can abort, it's still early enough. If you don't like that idea, you can give it up for adoption."

Nasty slowly stood up. "Zechs-kun, I think I'd like to go home, now."

**to be continued...**

A/N: The song Kay sang was actually from the anime Fruits Basket. The song is Momiji's song that he sung to Tohru at the hot springs. The image of Rajura singing a lullaby was too good to resist. Here's the translations:

Sunset on the Mountain  
Come out Come Momiji  
Frogs and Lizards say  
Hello

Koi and red herring  
Looks like a horse

Sunset on the Mountain  
Come out Come Momiji  
Frogs and Lizards say  
Hello


	37. Nasty's Big News

**Chapter 36: Nasty's big news**

**Noin-**

When Noin was fully rested and too antsy to stay in bed any longer, she swung her legs out of the bed and rubbed the back of her neck. For the first time since the incident at the junkyard, she felt completely like her old self. She woke up feeling full of energy and wanted nothing more than a long chat with Seiji.

The house was far from quiet. Noin could hear voices coming from the direction of the kitchen as well as the living room. She was on her way towards the voices she heard coming from down the hall when she met a new er... person.

"Where is cripple eye?" A harpy like voice screeched at Noin.

Hovering in the air, directly in front of her, Noin saw what was possibly the ugliest creature she'd ever seen. It was only about as tall as her hand and had a mane of wild greenish brown hair that moved as if it had a life of it's own. It's skin was a leathery tan and was stretched painfully over it's elbows and knees. Its face was quite the most repulsive thing Noin had ever seen and that was what made Noin flinch back a step. Rather like the face of a bat, its nose twisted and turned up so Noin could see right up its nostrils. Its eyes were big, like those of a large bug and when it spoke, Noin could see tiny, sharp fangs in its mouth. It wore nothing in the way of clothes, but Noin didn't see how any clothes could possibly improve the thing's looks.

"I speaking to you, female! Where is cripple eye? Master Emperor seeks the cripple eye."

"Ahhh... Do you mean Rajura?" She was the only one she could think of around here with a crippled eye. "What the hell are you?" She couldn't help but ask. Maybe she was still dreaming or something.

It flew closer, almost hitting Noin's face with its silken butterfly-like wings, and hissed at her, "Phadra is fay! Stupid ningen!" Its saliva sprayed on Noin's face.

"Damn!" Noin reached up and wiped her face, glaring at the thing. "I can honestly say, I don't think someone like Rajura has anything to say with you!"

Phadra flew in close enough that Noin had to swat it away from her face. "Take Phadra to cripple eye, female!"

"Go kiss a bug zapper, you irritating insect! Go find him yourself if it's so... " Noin's let her voice dropped when she heard voices raised and recognized Anubisu's voice.

Phadra, also, turned towards the voice.

"Naaza, you can't be serious." Anubis said. "I know it's hard to wait, but... "

"You know nothing! Tell me how patient you are when Rajura dies and then I'll listen to you. Sh'ten's been reborn and I want him, now!"

"We have to make a plan, Naaza." Rajura tried to explain calmly. "We don't even know where he is. He could be on the other side of the planet, for all we know. We're just going to have to wait until the connection gets stronger."

"I don't want to hear this!" Naaza snapped. "I'm leaving in one hour to search for him. You can come if you like, but I am going. I don't care if you two sit here to court that dark haired solider-girl and plot to conquer the world, I AM LEAVING!" And with that, Naaza stormed out of Treize's living room and right into Noin and the strange little visitor. Oddly, Naaza's lazy eyes opened wide at the sight of Phadra. "What are you doing here, fay?" He asked in open disgust.

Thankfully, in Noin's opinion, Phadra flew away from her face and up to Naaza. "Phadra has come for cripple eye, snake belly."

Naaza took offense at the name and he spit at Phadra. He hacked and let fly a wad of nasty colored spit at Phadra who squeaked with fear before darting away, barely saving itself. Noin jumped back. "Hey!" She said, wrinkling her nose. "That's gross!"

"It's also deadly, Noin-san."

Noin looked down and saw that, yes, Naaza's spit was deadly. It was currently eating its way through Treize's floor like acid. "What is this thing anyway?" She pointed at the thing.

"It's a fae, a faery, a pixy, whatever you want to call it. I like to think of it as a hemorrhoid with a big mouth."

Rajura and Anubisu walked out of the living room and saw the fay. "Oh, damn." Anubisu muttered, rolling his eyes.

**Rajura-**

A spot of light that darted around the room at a feverish pace. Anubisu took one look at the thing and groaned. OH, DAMN.

AWFUL LITTLE THING. Rajura heard Naaza sneer as he turned away from their uninvited visitor. WHY CAN'T THEY BE LIKE IN THE STORIES? SWEET LITTLE CREATURES WITH WHIMSEY CLOTHES THAT PLAY IN THE FLOWERS?

No. This fay was nothing like the playful pixies in the legends Rajura had heard when he'd sat at his mother's knee by the fire in the cold winter nights so long ago. Fay, real fay, were tiny winged things with a basically humanoid form, but nothing else that resembled lighthearted storybook pixies. It was rather like looking at a tiny bat's face that happened to be glued onto a human's body. Very nasty.

"Emperor summons." The fay's voice was low and gravely, making it sound as if it had a habit of gargling with razor blades. "Phadra to bring to Emperor." It swooped down sharply at Anubis' face, spitting in his eye as he barely dodged him. "Want eat." That was not a good thing to hear from a fay as they normally ate raw flesh and had a preference for human. "Emperor say I wait. Take one-eye white hair home. Then eat."

Naaza scowled at it. "We've abandoned the Youja Kai. We owe nothing to Kenbukyou."

"Phadra care not for you say." The fay continued it's endless circling and diving as it spoke. "Emperor say bring one-eye white hair home." It bared its teeth menacingly,

"I'll go." Rajura said, swatting at the fay when it came to close. In truth, he didn't like the fay any more than his brothers did.

Naaza looked aghast. "What?! You can't go now!" WHAT ABOUT SH'TEN? WE HAVE TO FIND HIM!

WE WILL. Rajura reached out and reassured Naaza with a hand on the shoulder. BUT WE WANT TO KEEP THINGS FRIENDLY WITH KENBUKYOU, DON'T WE? WE CAN'T PINPOINT SH'TEN AT THE MOMENT AND KENBUKYOU MAY HAVE SOME INFORMATION FOR US.

DO YOU WANT US TO GO WITH YOU? Anubisu asked.

NO. YOU TWO STAY HERE AND KEEP AN EYE ON THINGS. I WANT THINGS TO TURN OUT A CERTAIN WAY. MAKE SURE TREIZE DOESN'T GET KILLED ANY TIME SOON AND KEEP DUO OUT OF MISCHIEF WHILE I'M GONE.

I THINK HEERO'S DOING A PRETTY GOOD JOB OF THAT. Anubisu smiled. THE BOY HASN'T GOTTEN INTO MUCH TROUBLE SINCE HE MET HEERO. YOU'VE GOT TO GIVE HIM CREDIT IF HE CAN KEEP DUO IN LINE. DUO SEEMS TO BE FINALLY GROWING UP.

OH YES, Rajura added as an after thought. KEEP A HALF AN EYE ON QUATRE.

Anubisu looked confused. QUATRE? THAT KID'S STILL BED RIDDEN, ISN'T HE? WHAT HARM CAN HE DO?

Naaza shook his head and almost laughed. DON'T LET HIM FOOL YOU. HE'S NOT HURT ANY MORE THAN YOU ARE. IT'S AN ACT. SEIJI HEALED HIM VERY WELL AND I GET THE FEELING THAT HE'S JUST AS DANGEROUS AS WE ARE, IN HIS OWN WAY. HE'S HIDING, FOR SOME REASON.

IT'S ALL POLITICAL GAMES, Rajura assured them. HE'S PLAYING A GAME WITH TREIZE, THAT'S ALL. DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT, I JUST WANT SOMEONE TO WATCH HIM AND MAKE SURE HE DOESN'T DO SOMETHING STUPID. I'LL BE BACK SOON.

Rajura, remembering that he no longer how the talent to open gateways between the two worlds, looked at the fay. "I'm ready to go, Phadra."

"I don't like that you're dependent on that creature." Anubisu grumbled, but there was no sense in complaining. This had to be done.

**Noin-**

Phadra didn't seem to care what Anubisu thought of her and went straight to Rajura who, to his credit, didn't react at all. He looked at Phadra coldly.

"Master Emperor summons you now, cripple eye!" Phadra cackled as she said this, wickedly delighted that Rajura had been called on like a simple servant. "No waste time with talking!"

By emperor, Noin presumed it was the demon emperor Anubisu had told her about last night. He'd told her so much that she was still trying to digest it all, but she did remember him telling her about a war. That was where Seiji and his friends had vanished to for several days and had killed some demon emperor and set up a new one.

"Be respectful!" Anubisu growled, looking like he wanted to kill Phadra.

Phadra only laughed harshly. "Respect? Respect? Respect? For what? Old soldiers? Weak ningens?"

Rajura lashed out with his hand and Phadra went flying backwards, hitting a lamp on the wall. She made a peculiar buzzing noise like a swarm of bees as she regained her balance and came back up to face Rajura. "Do not take Phadra lightly, ningen!" She told him poisonously. "Phadra is small, but fay magic is great."

"Fay magic," Rajura replied calmly. "Is limited to glamour and that which you can steal from others. I know you can't steal our power, you've tried several times. And," His ice blue eyes took on a menacing glimmer. "If you even dare to try your glamour against me, I think you'll be vastly disappointed. I am not one to be fooled by such trickery. Deliver your message, Phadra, and be gone."

"Master Emperor has words to speak with cripple eye." Phadra told him, without much respect in her voice. "Must return to Youja Kai."

Noin knew, Anubisu had told her, that the Ma-Sho were able to speak to each other telepathically. He didn't use that word, mind speaking was what he called it, but Noin had the distinct feeling that they were mind speaking now, too. They had all gone quiet, but gave no other indication they were speaking.

_I wonder how much Treize would give to have telepathic soldiers?_ The thought idly drifted across Noin's mind just before Rajura nodded.

"Very well." He told Phadra. "I will spare Kenbukyou a small amount of my time."

Phadra hissed at him, "Address Master Emperor so! He destroy you if you displease him!"

"We'll see about that," Rajura answered confidently. "Open the gateway and we'll see what your master wants from me."

Anubisu took Noin's arm and gave her a pull away from Rajura and Phadra. "It's wise not to be to close to Fay magic, Noin-sama." As he pulled her away to a safe distance, Noin felt the strangest sensation. She'd never been in love before, never needed anything other than her job to fill her life, but she thought this must be what it feels like to be in love. Her heart fluttered. Yes, as corny as that sounded, her heart suddenly was beating rapidly in her chest and she couldn't begin to explain the warmth on her arm where Anubisu held her.

_Silly romantic thoughts!_ She scolded herself. _If I'm going to get involved with Anubisu, I should be thinking logically about this. He's not even human, really. He's centuries old and can control not only the cold, but also electricity. Do I want to fall for a guy like him? He's not that attractive and I saw him as a wolf. He's crude and... and... _Noin smiled unwittingly. _And he's simply perfect._

In the hallway, Phadra began to fly in circles, going faster and faster until her greenish hair began to blur and Noin began to blink as she tried to keep focused on Phadra and found it impossible. A wind began to howl and whipped Noin's hair against her face. She suddenly felt the wind increase and it started to pull her towards the blurry circle Phadra was creating.

Anubisu gave her a shake. "Don't look at her!" He told her sternly. "Phadra's confusing your mind. I don't know what you think you're seeing, but it's not real. Nothing's happening."

It was ridiculous to say such a thing when Noin could feel the wind and her feet were starting to slip from under her. She felt like she was being sucked toward Phadra. She grabbed for Anubisu's hand. "Help me! The wind... "

"There is no wind." Anubisu explained calmly, putting his hand on hers. "I promise, just close your eyes and trust me. You're safe, it's just Phadra's glamour."

Noin did as she was told and, the instant her eyes closed, the wind stopped. _Glamour? That was an illusion?_ Noin swallowed hard and kept her eyes closed. _Fay must be very powerful to make such realistic illusions. But then again, Rajura hinted that he was more powerful than Phadra._

"It's alright, Noin-sama." Anubisu told her. "Phadra's gone, you can open your eyes now. So, you said there was a lot of wind? Hrumph! That sounds about right. Phadra always had delusions of grandeur, but she hasn't even got the power to muster up a decent illusion. She can only affect one person at a time. Come on," Anubisu began to pull Noin toward the kitchen. "Let's go see where everyone is." He suddenly realized he was still holding her arm and let go quickly. "Er... pardon me." He walked away before Noin could even say anything.

"That idiot." Naaza grumbled under his breath. "You'll have to excuse him. Anubisu always was a bit of a prude. Come on, let's follow him." Naaza extended his arm like a gentleman and Noin, surprised, took it. They walked together slowly to Treize's kitchen and Noin considered Naaza as they went. She couldn't help but notice that even the hair on Naaza's arms was green.

"I thought you didn't like me," she said, bluntly. "Why are you being nice all of a sudden?"

"It's not that I don't like you personally," Naaza explained, not looking at her. "I just don't happen to like humans in general. In a few years, you are going to die and my brothers will be hurt. Can you imagine the pain of a lost love that will never go away?" He turned his half-lidded eyes on her. "We were all happy before we met you, but so much has been changing lately. I'm not good at change. I am a creature of habit and change is not in my nature. But... I see and feel what my brothers feel for you. I will not deny them happiness. Try, for their sake, not to die."

Noin wasn't quite sure what to say about that. "You make it sound like I'm going to die on purpose."

Naaza continued as if he hadn't heard her. "Anubisu told you much about us, but what he didn't tell you was that he is a vampire. That's how he turned into a tiger to rescue you." He turned on her balefully. "I do hope you understand how much that shows he cares for you. To get enough strength, he took blood from a tiger. It wasn't easy on him. You will grow old and die while he's going to be eighteen forever. His heart will break when you move on to a man who will grow old with you. Unless... "

"Unless?" Noin had to admit that her curiosity was spiked. Anubisu being a vampire actually seemed rather normal, compared to everything else that she'd found out about him and his friends. Her well-grounded life of science, logic, and facts was being quickly stomped to death in the face of Anubisu's world of demons and magic.

"My brother has many talents." Naaza smiled humorously. "Wait until you are certain of your feeling for Anubisu and Rajura before you learn anything else."

Noin's eyes popped open. "Rajura? What's he got to do with anything?"

Throwing his head back, Naaza laughed loud and hard, but he refused to explain what she'd said that was so funny.

By the time they came into the kitchen, Noin heard a car driving away and her eyes instantly went to the window where she saw Zech's car pulling away and Nasty's sitting beside him in the passenger side. "Where's he going?" She asked out loud.

**Rajura-**

"I apologize."

Of course Kenbukyou didn't say that in front of his warriors. He'd waited until he and Rajura were alone in the Sh'ten empty tomb. There was a dreadful tension in the air that Rajura could almost feel while he stood there with Kenbukyou, the new emperor of the Youja Kai. Strangely, all of the tension was coming from Kenbukyou and none of Rajura. With the presence of Sh'ten in his mind, Rajura couldn't bring himself to be to worried about what had happened to his brother's body.

_Sh'ten is alive. I know he is._ Sure, it bothered Rajura a little that Sh'ten's body was missing, but the fact was that his brother was alive, somewhere. He looked at Kenbukyou out of the corner of his one good eye, noting the stiff posture the demon emperor had. _He's frightened. Of me? No, we both know I couldn't out fight him, especially not with his warriors all around. He can't be afraid of me_. Rajura thought back to the limited time he'd associated with Kenbukyou.

"There have been no intruders into my castle that I have been able to find and the castle has all ready been searched room to room." Kenbukyou continued. "I realize that I have failed in my promise to keep him in a place of honor and I am willing to repay that debt."

Very suddenly, Rajura realized what a very, very nice position he was in. Kenbukyou owed him a favor. _That might be useful._ He thought, trying to conceal his smirk.

"Have you found any trace of Saranbo?" Rajura asked, turning and walking out of the tomb without a sign that he was at all upset about Sh'ten's body going missing. _He's alive. I don't have any reason to be upset. All I have to do is find him. What I DO want is to find Saranbo and exact a little revenge for my sweet Kay. I'll flay him alive and rip out his innards. I will invent such torture, Sh'ten will be jealous. When we find Sh'ten, that is_.

LEAVE THAT TO US. Anubisu's voice said. NAAZA AND I ARE SEARCHING NOW, BUT WE CAN'T SEEM TO PINPOINT WHERE HE IS.

DON'T WORRY. Naaza replied, determined. WE'LL FIND HIM. BY THE WAY, I THINK YOU TWO OUGHT TO TELL NOIN THAT YOU'RE LOVERS. SHE HASN'T GOT A CLUE AND YOU REALLY DON'T WANT TO SURPRISE HER ABOUT THIS SORT OF THING.

Rajura was brought back to his situation by a tiny, familiar creature darting around in front of his face. He waved a hand to shoo the thing away from him. _Fay._

Kenbukyou, though, had a very different opinion of the tiny demon creatures. He held out a hand and called, "Phadra, come here, little one. She's a lovely thing." Kenbukyou told Rajura as he petted her muddy greenish hair fondly.

"She's a pest and you ought to get yourself an elf." Rajura said evenly, though he was pleased to see Phadra flinch back at the word, 'elf'. Elves were a creature that hunted the fay like a cat hunts mice. Rajura was rather fond of elves because they always kept the fay away.

"To answer your question," Kenbukyou chose to ignore Rajura's suggestion to kill his new pet. "My people have found no sign of Saranbo, though they are still looking. I have taken nearly half of his territory and he will soon have nowhere to hide from me."

"When you find him," Rajura told Kenbukyou. "I want him alive. I have plans for that person."

"Perhaps."

Rajura was careful not to let his surprise show on his face. He had the distinct feeling that Kenbukyou was planning something. "Was that all you had to discuss with me?" Rajura kept his voice neutral. "Your failure to guard my brother's body?" It was a direct insult, but Kenbukyou was a demon and cared as little for insults as he did for compliments as he went on petting Phadra.

**Nasty-**

Zechs was very quiet during the walk back to his car. He carried her bag for her, a bag of vitamins, information, and a phone number for another doctor, but he hadn't said a single word since they'd left the doctor's office. Wearing his mask to hide himself from view, Zechs couldn't hide himself so well.

"Zechs, are you mad at me?" She stopped walking when they reached his car and he opened the door for her.

"I don't think that's really important, not right now," he said, coolly.

Nasty got into his car feeling like her heart was bleeding and there was nothing she could do to stop it. If Zechs felt this angry, Treize was going to have a stroke when he heard. _But I didn't do anything wrong!_ Nasty told herself as they drove away from Dr. Butterfly's office. _He's got no right to be angry, anyway._ Nasty looked at Zechs and tried to work herself up to be angry with him, but she couldn't quite manage it. _He probably thinks I'm nothing but a slut. He's never going to want to talk to me again._ Feeling more desolate and alone than she'd ever felt, Nasty turned her head away from Zechs and let a few quiet tears roll down her face. She still had grandfather's funeral to arrange and now this. She'd never felt so alone and now was not a time when she could afford to be seen as weak. _This is a nightmare. It can't be real._

**Zechs-**

_I wish she trusted me enough to tell me._ Zechs thought. _I'm her best friend and she never even told me she was sleeping with someone. I'll bet it was that little brat, Wufei! He's a good-looking kid; he probably charmed her and swept her off her feet. Nasty lived alone with her grandfather for most of her life; so she hasn't got much experience handling guys even if she is older. That damned brat took advantage of Nasty and I'll KILL him if he dares to deny it!_ He looked at Nasty out of the corner of his eye and saw her head lowered and she was starting to cry. His hands tightened on the steering wheel. I'll _kill Wufei if he hurts her._

**Nasty-**

Zechs left Nasty in the kitchen. "I'm going to find Treize. I think you and he should really talk as soon as possible." He left without another word and Nasty found herself alone in the unusually quiet kitchen. Since Mama Fan had come to stay with them a few days ago, the kitchen had become the hub of life around the house. Everyone could be found in the kitchen at one time or another and this quiet was strangely unnerving.

Nasty paced the kitchen impatiently waiting for her brother to get out of the parlor. _I have to tell him. I can't put something like this off._ She put a hand to her mouth and started chewing on her thumbnail, a nervous habit she'd never been able to rid herself of. _I'm an adult, I can handle this. It's not like I have to worry about money to take care of a baby. If Treize is angry or, even worse, if he's embarrassed, I won't stay here. I'll just go to live in grandfather's house_.

Nasty's thoughts went back to her deceased grandfather and she felt instantly lonely. She loved Treize to pieces and Zechs and Noin were practically her brother and sister, but they could erase the pain of losing her grandfather.

An image of Dorothy and her wickedly smirking smile appeared in Nasty's mind.

_I'll kill her!_ Nasty vowed, her eyes narrowing. It wouldn't be as if this were her first murder, after all. _How dare she hurt my poor, sweet grandfather?! He was the most gentle person in the world. I know Dorothy had something to do with it._ She was about to go on another rant and rave about what, exactly, she was going to do to when she got Dorothy alone when she suddenly remembered that she had more to worry about now. _Grandfather wouldn't want me to put my baby in any danger by going after Dorothy._ Nasty put a hand down to her still flat stomach. _I still wish I knew how this happened. What's Treize going to think?_ Nasty bit her lip. _It doesn't matter, anyway. I don't need anyone to take care of me or my baby. I can do this on my own._

"Are you alright, Nasutei-san?" Nasty was brought out of her thoughts when Kay entered the room. She'd been much more cheerful since her chat with Rajura last night and today, Nasty was pleased to see, Kay was actually smiling. "You look worried."

"Well, I have to tell Treize something and I'm a little afraid that he might be angry with me." Well, that was the understatement of the year! Something like this, when the press got their claws into this news it could ruin Treize's reputation and possibly his career.

Kay replied, "Well, I was mad at my big brothers for a long time, but then I talk to them and now everything's okay. If you talk to your big brother before he gets angry, then maybe things will be better. I didn't like being angry and I don't think your brother will, either."

Nasty stopped pacing and looked out the window to where the four sets of giant foot prints where the Gundams had stood in the back yard. Treize had managed to convince the young pilots to hide their Gundams before the press could get any pictures or anything more concrete than rumors that Treize was hiding such powerful weapons at his house.

"Kay, where are you and your brothers going to live? I've heard that you used to live in a sort of demon world, is that true?"

"Oh, yes." Kay answered, as if it were nothing at all. Then she began to tell Nasty all about her life in the Youja Kai and how she'd first ventured into the Ningen-Sekai and met Heero. She told Nasty about the demonic horses and the endless wetlands that Naaza and his snakes loved so dearly. She told Nasty about the fire pits and the burning red sky.

Kay turned out to be such a good storyteller, in fact, that Nasty had almost forgotten that she had to talk to Treize. Almost.

"Nasty, Treize says you can come in now. He's done with his meeting with the pilots." Zechs walked in with Mama Fan who was just tying on her apron. "Do you want me to be there with you?" Zechs asked when Nasty started to walk passed him.

"You'd do that for me?" Nasty asked, her spirits lifting somewhat.

"Of course I would." His mouth tightened into a grimace. "He was talking with Quatre and all of those other boys, but I asked them to leave so you two could speak privately."

Nasty thought about the offer. "Thanks, but I think I should do this on my own."

**Kay-**

Kay had no clue about why Nasutei-san was so unhappy, but she didn't like it. Nasutei-san had been very kind to her since she'd woken up here and even lent her clothes to wear. "Why is Nasutei-san sad?" She asked, looking from Mama Fan to Zechs and then back again. "Did someone hurt her?"

Zechs opened his mouth to answer, but Mama Fan spoke first. "No, dear. No one hurt her. Nasty's just pregnant, that's all." She said pleasantly while looking for something in the cupboards.

"You knew?" Zechs said, sounding surprises. "I didn't think she wasn't going to tell anyone before Treize."

"She didn't tell me, dear. I used to be a midwife, so I've seen enough pregnant girls in my time to recognize a few of the signs. Why do you think I wanted you to take her to the doctor instead of having him come here where Treize would have overheard everything?" She laughed, amused. "My goodness, that boy is so high stung, he'd have had a fit."

"You act like this is no big deal." Zechs sounded vaguely irritated that she wasn't more concerned.

Mama Fan didn't stop her search. "Don't you keep any curry powder in the house? It isn't a big deal, young man." She replied. "Men try make it a big deal, but women have been having babies for centuries and we sort of have to get used to the idea rather quickly. Nasty will too and then she'll be very happy. If," Mama Fan gave Zechs a hard look. "Her friends and family are around to support her. I know that my family is going to be there for her, so she's going to be alright."

"Are you suggesting that I'm going to let her down?" Zechs said angrily. "If the whole world turned against Nasty, I'd be with her!"

"I'm glad to hear that." Mama Fan patted his armored cheek fondly before going on her with her search. "Now, where's that curry powder?"

**Nasty-**

"I'm pregnant." Nasty blurted out as quickly as she could as soon as she closed the door of Treize's office behind her.

Treize's reaction wasn't promising. He froze, blinked three times, and dropped the stack of papers he was holding. Very slowly, he swiveled in his chair to turn towards her. "I... you... ? What?"

"I'm pregnant, Treize." Nasty stepped closer until she was looking down at him. "I'm going to have a baby." It was all she could do to keep from running from his shocked expression. "You're going to be an uncle."

Again, Treize didn't seem to know how to react. "Pregnant?" He just sort of sat there, stunned.

"Pregnant." She smiled weakly and put a hand on her stomach, though there was still no sign that she was pregnant. "Surprise."

For a moment, just a very short moment, Nasty believed that Treize was going to act as calm and controlled as he always did with every problem that came his way.

"I'LL KILL HIM!!!" Treize thundered as he leaping from his chair and charging out of his office like a man on a mission. His face was bright red and his lips curled back in a snarl when he threw open his office doors. "WHERE IS THAT DAMNED CHANG!?"

Nasty actually jumped out of her brother's path when he raged passed her, she'd never seen him so angry. Nasty heard glass breaking and furious screaming. Nasty paled. _Teize is really going to kill Wufei! _Nasty steadied herself, knowing that no matter how brave Wufei was, there was no way he was going to be able to match an enraged Treize.

**Treize-**

_I KNOW it was him! That horrible little pervert touched my sister. Hell, touched? He... he... he defiled my sister!_ Treize wasn't really thinking when he threw open the door of his office and stormed into the living room. With his lips curled back in a hate filled snarl, Treize looked around the living room. _Where is he? I know he's around somewhere, taking advantage of my sister while he's living under my roof. I feed that brat, shelter him and his terrorist friends from the Alliance, give his family a place to live, offer everything I have and this is how I'm repaid?! He fucks my sister like she's some low class whore!_

The living room was empty and Treize's anger was unable to find a human target. With his limited reasoning ability at that moment, Treize decided to focus on something readily at hand. The glass topped coffee table. It shattered under his boot with a crash that he could barely hear over the sound of his blood thundering in his ears.

"Where are you?!" Getting no immediate answer, Treize continued on his search, heading to the kitchen where he found most of his new house guests sitting around the table or helping Mama Fan with the cooking. With his eyes wide with fury and filled with something very close to hate; Treize swung his head to Wufei who looked just as mystified as everyone else in the room. "YOU!" Treize jabbed a finger at Wufei, accusingly.

Wufei jumped, turning away from the stove where he had been stirring something in a large, cast iron pot. "What?"

Everyone in the kitchen, including a nervously pacing Zechs, turned to stare, but Treize didn't care. He barely even knew that there was anyone in the room except for the small Chinese boy wearing a starched white apron.

"Don't try to deny what you've done!"

"Deny what?" Wufei's puzzled expression turned quickly into a scowl. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Treize, without taking his eyes off Wufei, pulled the phone off the wall and threw it at Wufei.

"What the Hell are you doing?!" Wufei demanded, dodging the missile by inches as the phone soared passed him and crashed through the closed kitchen window. "Have you gone mad?!"

"You! You did it!" Normally, Treize considered himself to be one of the world's finer gentleman, articulate and well-mannered. Today was not one of those days. He grabbed a cleaver from where it hung on the wall and eyed Wufei murderously.

Duo looked up from where he was running a sharpening stone over the edge of his scythe. "Holy Hanna, Wufei, what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" Wufei tried to defend himself. "What are you thinking? I've been out shopping with those two," He gestured to Anubisu and Naaza. " You know that."

"It's not today that's the problem, Chang," Treize snarled, inching his way closer to his prey. _Must kill. Must kill._ "I'm more worried about what you've been doing since you met my sister and any time you may have been alone together."

"I would never do anything to hurt Nasty." Wufei told Treize stiffly, as if offended by the very idea.

"Are you saying that my sister is a tramp?! Are you trying to tell me she sleeps with every man who crosses her path?!" Treize hauled back and threw the cleaver at Wufei.

Wufei only barely dodged the cleaver and it lodged in the wall behind him. "Of course not!" Wufei looked aghast that Treize would even say such a thing. "What are babbling about?"

"Then you admit it was you!" Treize pointed a long finger at Wufei.

Anubisu turned to Naaza and grinned. "This is quite dramatic, isn't it?"

"What are you talking about?!" Wufei demanded. "If you're going to attack me, then I'd like to know... "

"You got my sister pregnant!" Treize launched himself at Wufei, tackling him to the floor. In the back of his mind, Treize made a mental note of how much stronger Wufei was than he looked. While he and Wufei rolled around on the floor, he was also dimly aware of Mama Fan telling everyone to give them space to wrestle a bit and that,

"Boys will be boys. They just need to release a bit of steam."

"But... " Zechs objected.

"No buts. This is healthy. Trust me."

For several more minutes, they struggled, punching and hitting with everything they had for their own reasons: Wufei for his life and Treize for the honor of his sister.

"Alright," Mama Fan's voice broke though Treize's anger for a moment. "I think that's enough fun for one day. Xiu, darling, you get a hold of Wufei. Zechs, be a dear and grab Treize, won't you?"

Instantly, Treize felt Zechs' strong hands grab him by the shoulders and pull him off Wufei. "Let me go, damn it! He deserves to die!"

"I know, I know," Zechs said softly, but still restraining Treize. "Just not now. Look."

Treize looked around; not thinking that he'd see anything that could possibly give him any reason not to have Wufei lynched, when he saw Nasty standing in the doorway with tears running down her face. She looked at Treize and then at Wufei.

"I'm sorry." Nasty said, choking back a sob. Then she turned and fled down the hall to her own room.

Treize felt all the fight drain out of him. He hadn't meant to make Nasty cry. That was the last thing he'd wanted to do.

Wufei seemed similarly affected, letting Xiu hold him loosely as he watched where Nasty had run away. "You said she's pregnant?" Wufei asked softly. Wufei seemed to be thinking for a while. "Xiu, you can let go of me now. I'm not going to hurt anyone."

_As if you could,_ Treize thought, looking proudly at the bloody nose and black eye he'd given Wufei.

Treize took a deep breath, calming himself before he spoke. When he did speak to Wufei, Treize spoke with a deceptively calm voice. "Come into my office, Chang. We have things to discuss." Graciously, he held out one arm to lead the way.

**Anubisu and Naaza-**

Anubisu watched Nasty run from the room with his mouth hanging open. AM I IMAGINING THINGS OR DID SH'TEN'S PRESENCE JUST GET A LOT STRONGER WHEN NASTY CAME INTO THE ROOM?

YOU'RE NOT IMAGINGING. Naaza stared at the now empty doorway where Nasty had been. NASTY IS SH'TEN'S MOTHER.

**To be continued... **


	38. Victoria Lake

**Chapter 38: Victoria Lake **

Dorothy- 

Dorothy Catalonia wasn't a bad person. Not really. At least, she didn't think so. It wasn't her fault that she liked to see people fighting, her family had raised her with the idea that fighting and war were glorious expressions of life. It wasn't her fault that no one around her could see what a threat she was. If she were someone else, Dorothy was certain she'd be able to see how dangerous she was and stop herself.

Of course, Dorothy couldn't say that it was anyone else's fault that she was the way she was. Her mother had been kind and gentle. Her father was soft spoken and loving. She'd grown up in one of the most loving homes in the world and, yet, here she was. Plotting the death of her cousin, Nasutei.

"I don't want it to be quick," Dorothy told her companion thoughtfully. "If she has to die, then I want her to feel every possible sensation before she leaves us. I always rather liked Nasutei. It was just be a waste for her to die without feeling something. A pointless waste." If there was one thing Dorothy couldn't stand, it was waste. After all, there was a purpose for everything. Fate, if you will.

"That won't be a problem, I'm sure." Badamon's ghostly image hung perfectly still in the air as he watched her. At least, Dorothy was pretty sure Badamon was a he. It was hard to tell. "You are quite possibly the most ruthless human I've ever met, Dorothy. I feel certain you will be able to come up with a suitable death for your cousin. My ally shall be here soon." Badamon was saying.

"What ally?" Dorothy looked up from her fingernails that she was painting. "I thought you wanted Earth for yourself?"

"No." Badamon answered. "I want humanity to survive. After all, my people live on the negative emotions of you ningens, so it would be rather foolish to kill them all, now wouldn't it? This ally has recently had an embarrassing defeat on the battlefield and has no where to hide in the Youja Kai. I've offered him sanctuary here in return for his services. Not that we really need him, but I find it amusing to have him in my power."

Dorothy went back to painting her fingernails. She could understand his reasoning. Dorothy was sure that if she found something that could amuse her, she'd do anything to get it, also. As it was, she'd put up with Badamon's new servant or whatever he was. "By the way," Dorothy said. "I haven't heard a thing about what Treize is going to do now that our grandfather's been murdered. I wonder what he's planning." She'd expected him to do something by this time.

"You are sure he will react?" Badamon was getting overly concerned at the rapidly passing time. He wanted war and he wanted it now. "Perhaps he is like you, unfeeling. I have seen him and he is cold seeming."

"Oh, yes, he'll react. Treize just acts like that to lull his enemies into a sense of safety. He's really very passionate, he just doesn't like it to show. Treize is the kind of person who likes to wait and plan out his strategy. He's probably trying to pin this crime to me as we speak."

"You don't sound very worried."

"I'm no more worried than I am afraid of him. Treize will find out that it was me, but by then we'll have killed Nasty." After blowing on her nails to dry them a bit, Dorothy continued. "After Nasty is dead, then we'll kill Treize."

Badamon spoke up, concerned. "Treize controls the military, it would be wiser to kill him first. His sister is a mere woman and of no concern."

"I beg to differ." When she saw that her nails were finally finished drying Dorothy began to get ready for school, making sure her uniform was perfect and her hair was neat. "Treize is smart enough, and his word does control the army, I'm told, but Nasty has a great deal of sway over him. He'll do nearly anything she asks or suggests. I want Nasty safely out of the way before we start anything big." She smiled at her image in the mirror. It was a daily routine, making sure that she was smiling before she left the dorm room. "Without her, I'm sure Treize will lose his mind."

Dorothy was leaving her dorm room, but stopped just as she reached the door. She looked over her shoulder and smiled at Badamon. "By the way, I just received news that Nasty is pregnant. You'll get two deaths for the price of one."

"Excellent. I would ask your reasoning for this desire for battle." Badamon floated a bit closer to Dorothy. "Why kill your own kin?"

Dorothy's smile brightened. "Why not?"

**Wufei-**

Wufei had never been so insulted in his entire life, nor had he ever been speechless. But, that was the reason why he and Treize were glaring at each other in complete silence in Treize's office. It went on like this, a dreadful silence that nothing seemed able to break, for the longest time. Wufei couldn't believe that not only was Nasty pregnant, but that HE was being told that he was the father.

Father. Even though Wufei knew he wasn't the father, he couldn't deny the appeal of the title.

After Meiran's death, he'd given up hope of ever having children. Now, if Nasty let him, Wufei was perfectly willing to be a father figure for her baby. _Just think,_ he told himself. _It'll be a boy. A young, strong boy and I'll teach him how to be a warrior. Teach him to use a sword and how to be a gentleman. Then again, it might be a girl. A sweet girl, like Nasty with her mother's eyes and I could read to her._ Wufei would have been tempted to slide into a blissful paternal daze, if it weren't for Treize's penetrating glare.

"We're going to have to do something about this." Treize said, finally breaking the silence.

Wufei had to give the man credit for his self-control. If it had been some member of Wufei's family that had been dishonored, he didn't think he'd be able to speak calmly about it. "I will not accept blame for something I haven't done." Wufei told him firmly. "I am not her child's father."

"Who did it, isn't the issue anymore," Treize said tightly. Clearly, it was an issue for him, but he seemed to be trying to move passed it. "The problem to deal with, is what you are going to do now." His narrow eyes never left Wufei. "You are important to my sister, I think you know that. Now that she's going to have a baby, and she will keep the child if I know my sister, what are you going to do? Are you planning to run away and just leave her? She's not wanting for money or friends to support her, so you don't have to feel guilty about that." Treize stood behind his desk, but as he spoke, he leaned forward, his gloved hands clenching on the edge of the desk. "I need to know your answer, so I know how to deal with the situation. I won't try to change your mind, no matter what your choice is, but I need to know."

"I never run away from anything." Wufei said stoutly. "I'm certainly not going to run away from Nasty when she needs me." Wufei wasn't afraid to say that, he was surprised to find. Treize was right, he cared for Nasty a great deal and he was even thinking that he might want to make their casual relationship more... formalized someday.

Treize nodded briskly, apparently accepting what Wufei said. "Has Quatre told you about my proposal for you and your fellow Gundam pilots?"

Wufei nodded. "About us becoming your personal body guards? Yes. It goes against my training, I'll have you know. I was trained for a very long time to kill you. Not overthrow some government, but to kill you. It was my part of the mission."

"Yes. I worked that out. But there is no mission anymore, is there? If there were, you've had plenty of opportunity to kill me by now."

Wufei shook his head. "No. The mission is over. We've killed the men who trained us and," Wufei couldn't stop the satisfied little smile. "Duo and I made sure that Septum man won't be doing anymore evil."

Treize allowed a small smirk show through. "So... that was you two, was it? One of my men found Septum earlier and reported a rather... messy death. I suppose I'll have to find a way to thank Duo." He paused. "So, will you accept my offer of employment?"

"Yes." Wufei didn't have to think to hard about it. He needed a way to support himself and this would also give him a way to stay near Nasty and her baby. He could make some decent money and not be dependent on his aunt for a place to live. After all, she was going to be overworked enough just trying to take care of the restaurant and keep Xiu in school and take care of Lai. "Although, if I don't approve of your administration, I will leave." Wufei warned. "I suppose you'll be better than the Alliance. You couldn't do much worse."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Treize said dryly. He leaned back in his chair and swiveled around and looked out the window to where Wufei could still see several of Treize's OZ troops keeping watch.

"They're here because of your grandfather, right?"

"Yes." Treize said softly.

"Do you miss him?" Wufei didn't know why he asked. Normally, he kept himself out of the personal lives of others, but it seemed appropriate to ask. After all, this did concern Nasty, too.

"No." Treize answered, his voice still calm and soft. "I suppose you think that makes me sound monstrous. Our grandfather was a very good man, both intelligent and kind. He loved Nasty more than I could possibly tell you."

"Just Nasty?"

Treize turned away further, until Wufei could see only the back of his chair. "Grandfather raised Nasty after our parents died. Our paternal grandmother raised me. I didn't know grandfather enough to miss him, I really didn't even know him. What I do know is that Nasty loved him as much as she did our father. I will have his murderer found for Nasty. Not for myself."

"I won't abandon her," Wufei repeated, his voice hard with determination. "I will always protect her."

And they lapsed into silence again, with a bit less tension now that their positions had been clarified.

**Naaza-**

While Treize and that Wufei boy were talking, Naaza was about to have his second nervous breakdown in just under two weeks. Nasty had run from the room in tears, followed closely by Noin and Zechs, leaving Naaza and Anubisu stunned.

"Naaza? What's wrong?" Duo asked, putting a hand on Naaza's arm. Naaza blinked and slowly looked down at the wide eyed Duo. Amazing. He still looked like an innocent child sometimes, despite everything that life had thrown at him. "You look kind of weird. Well, weirder than usual."

Naaza spun around and grinned widely at Duo, showing off his fangs. The expression must have startled Duo, because he stepped back a pace. "Wrong? Wrong?!" Naaza threw back his head and laughed wildly. Without warning, Naaza seized Duo by the arms, like he used to when Duo had been a small child, and swung him around in a circle, lifting Duo completely off his feet. "Nothing's wrong!" He burst into mad laughter.

Duo, who was used to such rough play from his brothers, but not by serious Naaza, was, at best, amused.

"Okay!" Duo shouted, looking over his shoulder dizzily as he was spun around. "I think oniisan has finally gone off the deep end." Nevertheless, Duo laughed happily until Naaza let him down near Ryou. Unable to stop himself, Naaza grabbed Ryou, too, and pulled both of his little brothers into a tight hug.

Pulling a gun from somewhere, Heero didn't look in the least bit amused. Naaza saw Heero's hand tighten around the gun, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He hadn't ever felt so happy. Maybe it was because he'd never realized what he'd had until Sh'ten had died and he'd felt how much he'd lost.

"Naaza," Duo laughed Naaza let him and Ryou go. "What's got into you?"

"Love's gotten into me!" Naaza replied, barely able to hold back the tears of happiness. "Love and hope and the answer to my prayers!" He jumped over the couch where Quatre and Trowa were sitting, making them both duck, and slammed into Anubisu, kissing him hard on the lips. "We can't just stand here!" Naaza pushed himself away from a vaguely disappointed Anubisu and started for the door. "Let's go see our new mother."

While Ryou and Duo still both looked confused, Naaza turned on his heel and sprinted out the door in the direction Nasty had gone with Anubisu fast on his heels.

BE CAREFUL. Anubisu warned when he caught up to Naaza. WE DON'T KNOW HOW SHE'LL REACT TO ALL THIS.

I'LL BE CAREFUL. Naaza promised, though his mind wasn't on what Anubisu was saying. HOW CAN SHE BE ANYTHING BUT HAPPY, THOUGH? SHE'S GOING TO GIVE BIRTH TO ONE OF THE MOST SAVAGE WARRIORS OF ALL TIME. WHAT'S THERE TO BE UPSET ABOUT? Naaza beamed happily, virtually skipping down the hall and getting strange looks from both Duo and Ryou who knew his normal personality.

NAAZA, YOU'RE FRIGHTENING THE CHILDREN. Anubisu had to bite back a laugh. His happiness about Sh'ten's future rebirth was more than a little obvious.

Before anyone else could say a word, Naaza and Anubisu were at Nasty's bedroom door. It was slightly ajar and Naaza chose to take that as meaning he could enter, despite the desolate sobbing coming from within.

When Naaza threw open the door, Nasty was sitting on her bed, crying into her arms with Zechs and Noin sitting on either side of her. Zechs was half-leaned over, whispering something into Nasty's ear while Noin rubbed her back soothingly. Noin looked up irritably at the unwanted visitors, but Naaza didn't care. Let Anubisu handle his woman, Naaza had eyes only for Nasty right now.

Naaza hit the floor on his knees, kneeling before her and looked into Nasty's tear stained face with tears of his own. "Thank you," he said simply in a voice that was hoarse with emotion. He found that he could barely get the words out as he looked at Nasty. Yes, even looking mussed up from the ordeal she was undergoing, Naaza could see her inborn beauty and he wondered why he'd never noticed before. Of course, the mother of Sh'ten would be beautiful. She couldn't be any other way.

_Will Sh'ten look like her?_ Naaza wondered, staring into Nasutei's eyes. He studied the fine line of her cheekbone and her aristocratic nose. _Will he still look like he used to? What if he's born a girl this time?_ That last thought made him pause as his brain stalled. Naaza suddenly pictured Sh'ten with large, womanly breasts and broke out in a cold sweat. _My beautiful Sh'ten...with breasts? Ewwww._

"Thank you?" Nasutei wiped her face with her hand. "What for?"

Shaking his thoughts away from the disturbing image of Sh'ten wearing as a woman, Naaza didn't answer, but put a hand out to touch her still flat stomach. That would change in a very short time, he knew. Soon she'd be plump and swollen. He could practically feel Sh'ten presence growing as every moment of his new life passed. When he touched her, Naaza barely knew that Nasutei jerked away from his touch. "You've given me a reason to keep living."

"What are you talking about?" Noin demanded. She was sitting beside Nasutei with one hand on Nasutei's shoulder, like a protective dog, and watched Naaza wearily, though her guard went down slightly since Anubisu there, too. For the first time, Naaza didn't resent Anubisu and Rajura's growing attraction to this girl. After all, he could hardly begrudge them a love when he was getting Sh'ten back.

Anubisu answered for Naaza, seeing that Naaza was really in no condition to answer for himself. "Don't be afraid, Nasutei-sama. We've just heard about your good news and we wanted you to know we are here to support you."

"Then tell the Jolly Green Giant to get his paws off her." Noin said sharply as Naaza started to rub Nasutei's belly lovingly. "He looks like he's about to start purring and it's making me nervous." Her sour look softened slightly when Anubisu sat next to her on the bed and sat as closely as possible without actually touching her. That would be disrespectful, after all.

"I do apologize, Nasty-san," Anubisu said, smiling along with Naaza. "It's just such wonderful news, we're very pleased for you."

"Wonderful?" Nasty asked in disbelief. "I'm going to be an unwed mother. Alright, so it's not a stoning offense anymore, but it's not exactly respectable." She sniffed miserably. "I wish this had never happened!"

Anubisu and Naaza didn't have to exchange looks or even thoughts when they answered simultaneously, "No!" They looked at her, horrified that she might be unhappy with being a mother. "You can't mean that." Anubisu protested. "Being unwed is not the end of the world and there are far worse things. We have lived without children for many centuries. Until Kay, Duo, and Ryou came into our lives, we thought we'd never have children." There was remembered despair in his voice and Naaza remembered how badly Anubisu had felt that they'd never be able to have children, even if they'd brought women to the Youja Kai. Not because of any of Arago's rules, but because of what they were. The yoroi wouldn't allow it. Since the yoroi made them ageless, their bodies were tricked into believing that they didn't need to have children.

"We've not had the chance to see children in a very long time, it seems like a miracle." Naaza added. He, like Anubisu, had also felt the sadness of being informed that you'd never be able to have children. "I was never fond of children until I realized I would not be able to have any. Then... it felt like my heart had been crushed. Be pleased, and proud, that you are going to be a mother. Not everyone is so fortunate as you."

"Children are to be worshipped and treasured. We are going to be around quite a bit and we'd like to offer you our services." Anubisu went to sit at Nasutei's side, smiling charmingly at Noin as he did. "Every child needs male role models and we'd like to be... well... sort of big brothers for him."

Naaza actually started to laugh at that, even when Anubisu kicked him away from Nasutei because he was starting to paw her again. GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF! Anubisu told Naaza sternly. WE'RE NOT ALONE. EVERYONE FOLLOWED US TO SEE WHAT WORKED YOU UP SO MUCH. To Nasutei, Anubisu said, "Forgive him. Naaza gets emotional sometimes."

Naaza didn't even have to turn around to know that everyone was standing in or near the doorway to find out what was going on, except Treize and Wufei who had other concerns.

Anubisu reached over Noin and patted Nasty's stomach, lovingly. "Don't worry, we'll be the best big brothers you could ever want." Then he looked up at Nasutei who'd said barely a word the entire time. "You will want for nothing so long as we are around, Nasutei-sama. We will take care of you."

Zechs said, "Nasty has everything she could want. There is nothing you could give her that she doesn't already have and nothing you could do for her that Treize or I can't do for her."

With a soft chuckle, Anubisu shook his head. "We shall see." He didn't want to give away to much information about them, but the very idea that any mortal could do so good a job fighting as a Ma-Sho was laughable.

"You all need some new clothes." Noin announced suddenly changing the subject, out of the blue. She looked at them both, eyeing their light armor critically. "If you're going to be staying for a while, what you're wearing won't do. You need to look more casual, especially if you're going to be blending in."

Naaza, being told he had to do something by a mere ningen, scowled. "Do I look like the sort of person who cares about blending in?" He thought to himself, _How dare she try to tell a Ma-Sho what to do or what to wear?! We've been dressing like this for centuries, so if she thinks she can just order us about.._.

"Okay!" Anubisu agreed, quickly with a bright smile. "What do you want us to wear?"

Naaza hissed angrily, though he still had a hand on Nasutei's belly and the other hand reached up to scratch his itchy cheek. WHAT ARE YOU DOING? He demanded of his brother. SINCE WHEN DO WE TAKE ORDERS FROM NINGENS?

It was Rajura who answered, surprisingly. LEAVE HIM ALONE, NAAZA. I SEEM TO RECALL -SOMEONE- GETTING A TATTOO BECAUSE A CERTAIN RED HEAD ASKED HIM TO. YOU'RE IN NO POSITION TO TELL ANUBISU HOW TO TREAT NOIN-SAMA. Even though Rajura's words were light, his thoughts were darker, telling Naaza and Anubisu that he was upset about something, but unwilling to talk about it right now.

Rajura walked into the room, smiling at both women even as his mind spoke to his brothers. Since he'd left his mind open to them, both Naaza and Anubisu knew what had gone on in the Youja Kai and the reason for Kenbukyou's summons. Naaza wasn't very happy about it, but even he couldn't see the point in getting all worked up since Sh'ten was going to be reborn. It was a loss, but it was only the loss of a mortal shell, not the true person Sh'ten was.

"I see you got rid of that annoying little Phadra thing," Noin commented. "What was that all about and where'd you go?"

Rajura hesitated for a moment before answering. "It was a family matter, Noin-sama. Nothing at all for you to be worried about. However, I do see your point. We will have to learn to fit into this modern world and that'll be difficult as we are. We have much to learn, I think, and much to change about our appearance."

WHAT IS IT WITH YOU TWO AND THAT WOMAN? Naaza asked, virtually gluing himself to Nasutei's side. WHY IS SHE SO IMPORTANT? SHE'S NOTHING SPECIAL.

AH, Rajura answered, BUT SHE IS. DON'T YOU SEE IT? Though Rajura was speaking to Zechs about something trivial, his mind was focused on Noin. SHE KNOWS THAT WE'RE DIFFERENT. SHE KNOWS AND SHE DOESN'T CARE. IT DOESN'T MATTER TO HER.

Naaza could feel Rajura's pleasure in that.

DOES SHE CARE ABOUT YOUR HAIR OR YOUR SKIN? HAS SHE EVEN ONCE LOOKED AT YOU WITH DISGUST LIKE YOUR OWN FATHER DID? SHE SAID NOTHING AT ALL WHEN SHE SAW ANUBISU AS A WOLF. I THINK THAT'S RATHER SPECIAL, DON'T YOU?

Naaza, for once, couldn't find it in himself to disagree. Rajura had a very good point. _I'll try to be...nice. I suppose._ BY THE WAY, HAVE YOU TOLD HER ABOUT YOU TWO, YET? YOU AND ANUBISU, I MEAN.

I WAS JUST GETTING TO THAT. Even Rajura's incredible control over his mind couldn't quite hide how nervous he was as he approached. First, Rajura stopped at Naaza's side where Naaza was still sitting on the floor at Nasty's feet. He put a hand on Naaza's shoulder and leaned down, kissing him on the mouth. It wasn't a terribly passionate kiss, but it was one that showed very definitely that they were closer than even brothers.

Next, when Noin's eyes were wide as saucers, Rajura casually stepped around Naaza and Nasty until he was standing over Anubisu. Throwing modesty to the wind, Rajura straddled Anubisu's legs and sat on his lap, putting them in a very intimate position. He petted Anubisu's hair before leaning down and giving his lover a VERY passionate kiss.

It was a show, of course. Rajura and Anubisu were both far to bashful to do this sort of thing in public as a rule, but this was for Noin's benefit. _Rajura must have gotten tired of pussy footing around._ Naaza told himself. _He's decided that if she's going to know, it's better for her to know now._

Naaza watched Noin while Rajura tried to see how far down he could get his tongue down Anubisu's throat. At first she was shocked, her eyes nearly popping out of her head, but then, as reality sunk in. Her face fell. Realization was truly painful and Naaza knew that she thought she'd had it all wrong. She thought she'd been wrong when she thought Anubisu was interested in her.

That changed, however, when Rajura released Anubisu from the lip-lock and leaned over to where Noin was still sitting at Anubisu's side. He gently took her face with one hand and held her steady while he moved towards her, still sitting on Anubisu's lap.

"Wha... ?" Noin said, blushing when Rajura's intention became obvious, but she couldn't seem to quite grasp it.

Rajura said nothing before he kissed her. It wasn't anything nearly so passionate as he'd given Anubisu, or even the familiar, loving kiss he'd given Naaza. It was a chaste kiss, but his meaning couldn't be missed.

"Is he always so friendly?" Zechs asked, clearly disapproving.

"Usually more so." Naaza answered. He was still in a good mood, so he smirked at the masked man. "Why? Are you feeling lonely, bird-man? Do you want a kiss, too?"

"From him? Thank you, no." Zechs was clearly a very prim and proper sort of man.

When Rajura finally let Noin go, she was dazed and blinked several times before her eyes refocused.

"Ohhhh. Now I get it." She said. Very slowly, a silly grin spread across her face and she looked between Anubisu and Rajura. "I think I could get used to this. Does he kiss as good as you do?" Noin pointed at Anubisu while looking at Rajura.

"Better." Anubisu replied without a hint of modesty.

"Hmmm." Noin looked at Anubisu. "I think you'll have to prove it to me sometime."

"A pleasure, my lady."

**Shin-**

Shin held the phone away from his ear and winced as the yelling continued, on and on and on. He waited almost ten minutes before the yelling began to soften and finally faded entirely. Cautiously, Shin put the phone back to his ear. "Cathy? Are you done hollering?"

"NO!"

Her screech startled Shin, but this time he didn't take the phone away from his ear.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Cathy demanded. "What are you thinking? You're joining OZ? Shin, you're sixteen, you're not old enough to drive, you're certainly not old enough to be a soldier of any kind! I can't believe this! Where the Hell is Trowa?"

"Cathy, please, just listen. A lot's happened since you left and this is kind of necessary." Shin was trying very hard to keep his temper. As much as he loved his sister, she did tend to get a bit overprotective sometimes. He opened his mouth to tell her what had happened since she'd left him on Earth, but quite honestly didn't know where to start.

"Well?" Cathy asked sharply. "I'm waiting for your explanation. What makes joining the army so necessary?"

Shin decided to just jump in with both feet. Sink or swim. "Both of my male lovers are going and I want to stay with them."

Silence.

Silence.

Silence.

Finally, "Both? Male?" Shin could almost see Cathy trying to come to grips with this. "I can understand you having a boyfriend, Shin. After all, this isn't the dark ages. But two?"

"Yeah. Two. Do you want to meet them?"

For a moment, Shin thought that she'd refuse and just hang up on him. His heart stopped and he didn't breathe until she answered. "Yes, I think I do. I'll arrange it with the ringmaster and I'll be on Earth in about two weeks."

When he hung up, Shin let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He smiled and clapped his hands together. "Thank God that's over with. Now the hard part. Shopping with Naaza."

**Touma-**

_How did I get roped into this?_ Touma asked himself as he stood with his back against a wall and waited patiently for his charge, Rajura, to come out of the dressing room.

"Because Shin's taking Naaza and Xiu's taking Anubisu." Kitty had informed him about an hour ago. "Wufei is helping Mama Fan in the kitchen to make a very big lunch. Seiji's talking with Noin and Zechs about getting a glass eye and some cosmetic surgery. Noin and Nasty are taking Kay out. Heero's working on some way to better hide our Gundams. Ryou and Duo have taken Byakuen and Kokuen-Oh hunting. That leaves you the only available person left." Kitty concluded at last.

"What about you?" Touma demanded. Quatre had been laying around now for the longest time and he certainly didn't look hurt anymore.

Quatre smirked. "I'm still injured." He made his eyes get as big as possible to make himself look pitiful. "You can't be asking me to get up and go out shopping now, can you? Sniff. I need my rest." He pulled the blankets up to his chin.

"My heart pumps maple syrup up hill in February for you." Touma rolled his eyes at Quatre's obvious acting. "What about him?" This time, Touma pointed at Trowa who was sitting at Quatre's side. "He's not doing anything, he's just sitting there."

"I'm going to Mama Fan's restaurant to get some things she needs for herself and Lai." Trowa said, speaking up for himself. "She's been here for a while without any change of clothes or Lai's toys. It's not fair to either of them since she's taking care of everyone."

Now, at the mall, Touma sighed heavily. "I hate shopping." The absurdity of the whole situation was just to much to bear. Taking demonic warriors out shopping. It was just... silly.

"Are you certain this is fashion?" Rajura asked, emerging from the dressing room in the clothes Touma had picked out for him: red and green Hawaiian shirt, purple pants, canary yellow shoes, and orange Panama hat.

"It looks fine to me," Touma concluded. "You want a tie to go with that? Kitty says all respectable men wear ties and I saw a nice one with yellow smiley faces all over it." Touma found himself liking the illusion master. He couldn't even say why, except that Rajura seemed to be the type of person who played by his own rules and Touma admired that in people. Even though Rajura wanted them to help start a war...

NOT START A WAR. Xiu's voice interrupted. WE'RE GOING TO FINISH IT BEFORE IT STARTS AND SAVE LIVES.

YOU BELIEVE THAT? Touma asked, still not sure.

YEP. I ALSO BELIEVE THAT ANY GOVERNMENT WILL BE BETTER THAN THE ALLIANCE.

Touma knew he shouldn't have asked. Xiu was more than a little bias when it came to the Alliance and for good reason. They'd slaughtered most of his family.

Shin interjected, BUT WE'LL STILL HAVE TO FIGHT. I HATE FIGHTING. BESIDES, I STILL HAVE TO TALK TO CATHY AND TELL HER WHAT'S GOING ON.

YEAH, Touma agreed. I STILL HAVE TO TALK TO RASHID AND ABDUL. OH, DEAR. He turned slightly away from Rajura to see an immensely tall man built like a brick wall and a smaller man wearing sunglasses. He felt his stomach start to churn. Coincidence was such a pain. WELL, NO BETTER TIME THAN NOW, I GUESS.

Neither Rashid nor Abdul looked happy. Touma felt a pang of guilt for all the worry he must have put them through. He'd pretty much run away when they'd brought Kitty home after the kidnapping.

"Problem?" Rajura, no fool, had obviously seen Touma's slightly panicked looked at finding his furious foster fathers stalking down the aisle of the men's department.

"Parents." Touma admitted, not taking his eyes off the quickly approaching pair. He swallowed hard.

"Ah." Rajura turned and quickly started walking away. "I'll find you later. Good luck."

"What?!" Touma gave Rajura a betrayed look. "You're just going to leave me here alone?"

"Do I look like a fool? Of course I am. Besides, yelling grates on my nerves." With that, he vanished behind a corner and was gone.

"Where the Hell have you been?!" Rashid thundered when he reached Touma, nearly shaking with anger.

"Oh." Touma gave what he hoped was a winning smile that instead came out more like a watery grin. "Did I forget to call?"

Rashid looked like he wanted to haul Touma over his knee and give him a spanking, but, with a lot of effort and will-power, stopped himself. "You have a lot of explaining to do, young man." Rashid said though gritted teeth.

"First off, are you alright?" Without warning, Abdul pulled Touma into a tight hug. "We were so worried." Touma hadn't realized it until just then, not being big on hugging and such, he hadn't noticed that he was now as tall as Abdul. For some reason that made Touma rather sad.

"Yeah." Touma said, hugging Abdul back. "I'm fine. Got a long story to tell, but I guess other than that, I'll live."

"What kind of story?"

"Do you believe in faery tales?"

**Later-**  
**Treize-**

Treize wasn't sure what the noise was, except that there was a thundering down his hallway and one of his grey clad soldiers burst into his office. "Sir, we have a problem."

"What kind of problem, Major Falls?" Major Falls was one of the higher-ranking people in OZ. He was, in fact, in charge of the operations here at Treize's house and was the one all the OZ soldiers answered to. He, in turn, answered only to Zechs and Treize.

"Well, two problems, really. First off, one of your guests, the blue haired boy, is back and has two extra people with him who are demanding to see, and I quote, 'The evil leech that sucks scum off the belly of worms, Kushranada.' I think they mean you, sir. One of them is rather large and they're both armed. The blue haired boy says they won't hurt anyone, but I don't think I quite trust that. Both gentlemen seem quite, er, irritated."

"I see." Actually, Treize didn't see, but it was best to look confident. "And the second problem?"

Major Falls stiffened and his normally good-humored face turned dark. "We've heard rumors that you're getting a transfer, General." In his face there was a mix of accusation and fear. It was understandable. If Treize were to leave his post as the commander of OZ, there was no telling who would take charge and what would be done to them.

"Who is 'we'?" Treize asked. It was the first rumor he'd heard of a transfer. Someone would be trying to move him to a harmless position, probably pushing pencils somewhere or counting paper clips.

"The rumor has traveled through most of the base, sir."

Treize didn't both to ask how they'd found out about this before he had. After all, he got most of his information through his intelligence gatherers in OZ. It was only natural that they were privy to the best gossip.

"If I am to be transferred, you can reassure everyone that I will refuse. I will stay with OZ."

"And if your superiors give you no choice, sir?"

Treize thought before he answered. "Then I will obey my orders, of course." Treize gave Major Falls a reassuring smile. "No matter where they put me, Major, I will always belong to OZ. Besides, I still have my grand plan and I trust that no matter who they replace me with, OZ will be ready to back me up."

"Unless they disband us, sir."

"If they do," Treize felt a sudden flare of pride in him about his troops. They were the refuse of the military, but they were his! "If they try to separate you, you will all find a place at my own home. If I have to personally build a barracks with my own money, you will stay together."

Major Falls' dark expression lightened at Treize's words. "Thank you, sir. Now, what about these visitors? Would you like us to get rid of them? They are causing something of a disturbance and I think they may be prone to violence."

"That's the understatement of the century." A new voice, heavily accented, came from the doorway as it was flung open. In the doorway was the single largest man Treize had ever seen. He filled the doorway and more, ducking his head as he came in. His hands could have easily palmed Treize's head and his arms were as big around as Treize's thighs. "Now, Mr. Kushranada, what exactly have you been doing with my son all this time?!" His enraged voice felt like it was close to shaking the room, but Treize had not gotten where he was in life by being intimidated by others.

Treize made a show of looking behind the large man and saw not only Touma, but also smaller man wearing small round sunglasses. The smaller man stayed silent, but he watched everything carefully and Treize knew the smaller one must be just as dangerous as the big man who spoke. "Touma has been helping me with some problems we seem to be having. Why don't you ask him what's been going on? He seems like an honest boy."

"Of course he's honest!" The big man snapped. "I've taught him right from wrong. I've heard his story." The big man cast a look at Touma who still stood awkwardly in the doorway, biting his lower lip. "And I don't have any choice but to be suspicious. You haven't got the nicest reputation, Mr. Kushranada."

"Sir... " Touma tried to interrupt.

"Now, now." The smaller man motioned for Touma to stay out of the conversation. "You've had your say."

"But Treize didn't do anything!" Touma insisted. "It's all just like I was telling you."

"Demons?" Rashid asked. "Magical armor? You expect me to believe all that, Touma? Honestly?"

Touma hung his head. "I guess not, sir. I could show you." He looked up again, his eyes bright with hope.

But Rashid was still incensed and not listening as he turned back to Treize. "Whether or not it's true, as an adult, you should have contacted us to tell us you had our son here!" Rashid snapped at Treize. "How could you be so irresponsible?! We thought he'd been kidnapped or killed!"

"Shouldn't you be yelling at your son instead of Mr. Kushranada?" Major Fall asked.

"I've already been chewed out, thank you." Touma said. He sighed and said, "Treize, this is my father, Rashid, and my dad, Abdul. I kinda forgot to give them a call when we got back from the Youja Kai and I also kinda snuck out without telling them. I'm a little absent minded from time to time."

"Absent minded?!" This time it was Abdul who exploded. "That's not absent minded, that's foolish, and I know for a fact that you're not foolish, Touma!"

"Well," Touma took a deep breath. "Then how's this for foolish? Rajura, the demon warrior who's teaching me and my friends how to control our Yoroi, wants us to stay with Treize so he can train Treize's army how to conquer the world. I'm sort of thinking it might be a good idea. Plus, my boyfriends are going and I don't want to be separated from them."

Abdul and Rashid just stared.

_The boy really needs to learn tack._ Treize noted. He wouldn't have expected any of them to keep this a secret, but it could have been told in a more gentle fashion. "I haven't agreed to the plan, yet." Treize added in, but no one was listening to him anymore.

Then the screaming began. Rashid yelled at Treize, Major Falls yelled at Rashid for yelling at Treize and Abdul yelled at Touma. There were accusations about kidnapping and child endangerment, to which Touma rolled his eyes and got yelled at again.

Treize was almost at his wits end with two large men yelling at him while Touma stood guilty in the corner with his head bowed. Occasionally, one of Touma's father's would turn and say something to him, in Arabic that would make him cringe.

It went on like this until Mama Fan entered.

"Such yelling, Rashid." Mama Fan chided when she walked into Treize's office.

"Mama?" Abdul said, startled to find her there. "What're you doing here?" He'd stopped yelling almost instantly and Treize, not always the fastest thinker, connected the fact that they knew each other. After all, Touma had said that he and Xiu were friends before any of this had happened. Of course their families would know each other.

"Bringing in some clean clothes." She set a pile of clean clothes on Treize's desk. "I'd have taken them to your room, Treize, dear, but Zechs said he was redecorating. Something about a surprise for tonight involving roses, maple syrup, and a whip." She patted Treize's cheek fondly. "Don't go dirtying up the room to much, dear. Someone has to clean it, remember."

"Yes, ma'am." Treize blushed deep red. It didn't help that his underwear was on the top of the pile - the ones with the airplanes on them. _Oh, damn._

There was a dark silence as Mama Fan bustled out of the room. Before she left, though, she turned to Rashid and said, with a half-hidden smile, "By the way, did that rash clear up?"

She got no answer from the furiously blushing Rashid and left, with a satisfied, smug look now that she'd effectively stopped the argument.

_Mama Fan: 2 points,_ Treize thought. _Male ego: zero._

**Later-**

Everyone had converged on Treize's back lawn, making it look like he'd invited a small army for a picnic. It was a large affair and while they ate, Treize took stock of the situation.

He had four fully trained Gundam pilots at his disposal. He had eight warriors with mystical Yoroi that could do impossible things. He had two large men who were, they said, the head a large mercenary organization working for the Winner foundation, but Quatre in particular. They had been working for Quatre's father, but were now employed by Quatre directly. He also had a small Chinese family, a little girl, two large tigers, a pregnant sister, a murdered grandfather, an army that was having abandonment issues, and a serious craving for vanilla ice cream.

_Nasty's safety comes first._ Treize thought, sorting out his priorities. _I'll find the murderer later, I have to get her away from here and somewhere safe, first of all._ Next, solve the ice cream dilemma. "Mrs. Fan, did you notice if we have any vanilla ice cream in the freezer?"

"I'm sorry, but no. Why?"

"Oh, nothing." _Darn._

On to the next issue. He would accept Rajura offer to train his army. He needed OZ to be the best at everything and Rajura claimed to have centuries worth of experience training stubborn, mule-headed idiots. Anubisu had hit him at that point. Quatre and Wufei had accepted the positions as bodyguards, though Treize was rethinking that. Did he really want Quatre to be in a position to decide if he lived or died? Heero also accepted, but mainly because Duo was going to stay with his brothers and that meant they could be together. Trowa had accepted to be with Quatre.

Kay, the young sister of Rajura, Naaza, and Anubisu, was now dressed in a more modern outfit, courtesy of Mama Fan, of jeans and a t-shirt. It seemed very normal, but she was clearly uncomfortable after years of wearing a heavy kimono. She kept looking embarrassed and half-way hid behind Rajura. Her brothers hadn't been so happy about it, either, when she'd shown them her new clothes. "Indecent!" and "Obscene!" Were their biggest objections. However, they knew they had to try to blend in a little with modern life and had allowed it at Mama Fan's urgings.

The Ma-Sho were in no better mood about their clothes. Though Anubisu was rather pleased with a new gold earring he'd gotten and Naaza said he was considering a new tattoo. They too had been stripped of their usual kimono's and were now decked out in jeans. Anubisu had only an open leather vest that showed off his muscular chest and Rajura had a very simple white, dress shirt. Naaza had a green tank top, but wasn't wearing it at the moment. He said his skin was bothering him and he kept scratching at his arms and shoulders.

Strangely, after all of their yelling and fighting, Rashid and Abdul didn't so much as blink when Touma agreed to join with OZ. "Master Quatre is going, so we will go also," Rashid told him. "Since we are going, Touma will have to go." Apparently, they were very fond of Quatre and if Quatre said it was alright, then it was alright.

"We'll be leaving in the morning." Treize announced after swallowing a mouth full of mashed potatoes. He wasn't the only one eating. Everyone sat on the grass eating off Treize's best china and sitting on his table clothes. Due to a neglected childhood, Treize didn't even know what paper plates were, let alone have any in the house. He had silver and china, he even had silk table clothes, but no paper plates. There were also several platters of food being shared by everyone who took what they wanted before passing the platter to the next person.

"What the Hell is this?" Rajura asked, picking up a piece of fried chicken and looking at it with a baffled expression. "And just what do you mean by 'we'? Where are we going?"

"It's poison." Wufei answered dryly as he handed Nasty a plate of food before sitting next to her. "Yes, what do you mean by 'we'?" He seemed to be taking his duty as her protector very seriously and, between Wufei and Naaza, Nasty didn't have to lift a finger. She didn't look terribly thrilled about that fact.

Treize, for the first time in a long time, had taken his gloves off in public. Shin's fried chicken was extremely good and he didn't want to ruin his white gloves while handling them as Shin had explained that one absolutely could NOT eat fried chicken with fork and knife. It just wasn't done. Treize had to admit that hit felt odd to be sitting cross-legged in the grass with his jacket off and his shirtsleeves rolled up. It felt bizarrely... normal.

"I mean we are leaving. Delicious chicken." Treize gave Shin a smile.

"Thank you." Shin smile back from where he and Ryou were leaning against Byakuen who was sleeping in the sun.

"Well," Mama Fan asked from where she sat on the only lawn chair Treize owned. "Where are you going?" As the oldest woman here, she'd been given the most comfortable seat and now held her little girl on her lap, though Lai struggled to get down.

_I'm the richest man in the world._ Treize thought to himself. _Why don't I have more than one lawn chair? I'll have to buy a few more once I've conquered the world._

"Africa," Treize answered, once his drifting thoughts got away from lawn chairs and back to the subject at hand. "Pass me another biscuit, will you, Zechs?"

Zechs did pass the biscuit (which was just as good as the chicken), but no one spoke.

Finally, Rajura leaned forward and whispered to Duo, "Where is Africa?"

"How long, exactly, have you been away from Earth?" Zechs asked.

"Several hundred years."

"Ah. Then I expect the name has changed since you last knew Earth. Africa is a large continent to the southwest. It's very hot and dry there."

"But very beautiful," Treize added with a dreamy smile. "My absolute favorite place on all of Earth. From the burning deserts to the lush jungles, I could happily spend the rest of my life roaming Africa."

Duo made a face. "Deserts? Why do we want to go to a desert?"

"Victoria Lake."

"You say that like it should mean something."

Treize had to remind himself that more than half of his guests had no knowledge of the current world's politics.

Heero answered before Treize could even open his mouth. "Victoria Lake is the main operating base and training facility for OZ, the elite force of the Alliance."

Heero both frightened and disgusted Treize, in a way. Not that it was Heero's fault, in any way. Heero was the embodiment of everything that Treize feared was going to happen to humanity. Frozen emotions and being taught that there was nothing else to life but fighting and killing. Of course Treize knew that sometimes war was necessary, but it was only a last resort, not the first option. Heero had probably never done any of the simple things that children take for granted. He'd probably never jumped rope or skipped school. It was the thought that people like Heero might become standard for soldiers that frightened Treize.

_I can't allow that to happen. I just can't._

Mama Fan, sometime during the conversation, had gone very quiet. "Africa." She muttered under her breath. Something about the way she said it drew everyone's attention. Mama Fan looked from Wufei, who now had an arm draped casually around Nasty's shoulders, and Xiu who was sitting next to Duo with their backs with her tottering gait to Byakuen before climbing up on his back with a little boost from Seiji. Lai laughed happily while tugging on one of the great white tiger's ears.

"Mama?" Xiu asked, concerned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, my dear." Mama Fan shook her head. "You have really grown up, you know that, darling?" She looked at Xiu this time. "Since your papa died, you've been a grown up, even if I hate to admit it. I don't want you to feel like you have to stay at the restaurant, Xiu. Just promise me you'll finish school. I trust you to take care of yourself. I don't want to keep you at the restaurant if you really want to go. But... " She paused. "I will miss you." Her gaze when to the large group of people. "I'll miss all of you."  
**  
Zechs-**

Treize stiffened at Zech's side and looked at Mama Fan. "What?"

Zechs could hear the distress in Treize's voice. It really wasn't surprising, considering Treize's childhood, that he'd latch onto Mama Fan, the first loving mother figure he'd met since his own mother had died. While Nasty had been lucky enough to find love and support from her kindly grandfather Yagiyu, Treize hadn't been nearly so lucky. The Kushranada family wasn't well known for it's compassion or empathy, not even to it's own members.

The thought of losing Mama Fan, everyone's dream of the perfect mother, must have felt to Treize like he was losing his own mother all over again.

Treize wasn't the only one upset by the thought of losing Mama Fan. "You're not coming?!" Nasty sat up quickly and looked at Mama Fan with panic in her eyes. "But... but you have to! I need you, mama!" Her hand went to her stomach and her own crisis. "I really need you!"

Xiu said, "I'm not leaving you and Lai here all alone!"

Wufei glared angrily, nodding at Xiu's words.

It wasn't just the immediate family who was concerned, though. Everyone looked upset. "Why do you want to leave us?" Ryou asked while Lai slid down from Byakuen's back and into Ryou's lap. She'd lately made a habit of going from person to person for hugs and kisses and just to be held. Everyone took this habit quite well, even Naaza who bounced her on his knees when she came to him for a kiss. The cats were patient and gentle, treating her like their own cub.

"Yeah," Duo added as he looked up from the book he'd borrowed from Treize. "Don't you like us?"

"Of course I like you!" Mama Fan sounded slightly insulted. "I love all of you like you're my own family, but I really don't have a place at an army base. I can trust Xiu and Wufei to look after each other, but I don't know anything about the army. There's also the restaurant to consider... "

"Sell it." Treize blurted out. "You don't need it, now, and I can certainly find a place for you, if that's what you're worried about. Surely, you don't want to separate Lai from her brother and cousin." That was one of Treize's talents, to know a person's weak spot and exploit it. In Mama Fan's case, her children were her weak spot.

"Well, no." Mama Fan looked doubtful. "But I won't be taking charity, either. I'm a hard working woman and I don't need to be mooching off others."

Treize gave her a charming smile. "Then I'll let you work in the kitchens, if you like cooking so much. Please, you must know how much you mean to us all." It was a rare moment when Treize let his emotions show honestly.

Mama Fan's reaction was instant. She grabbed Treize and pulled him in for a hug, nearly suffocating him by pressing his face into her ample bosom. "You are such a darling boy!" Mama Fan cried. "And here I thought you were nothing but a spoiled little brat when we met. Well! I guess that proves me wrong!"

When released, Treize couldn't hide his shocked expression or his blush. It was the first time he'd been that close to a woman's breasts since he'd been weaned.

Mama Fan grabbed both of Treize's cheek with a pinch and shook his face fondly. "You really are a sweet boy, but there's one condition."

"What's that?" Treize asked, rubbing his sore cheeks when she let him go.

"Stop calling me ma'am, young man. You make me feel old. I'm everyone's mama."

**To be continued... **


	39. Torturing Septum

**Chapter 39: Torturing Septum **

Kenbukyou-

"Dismissed!" Kenbukyou watched his soldiers salute then leave his throne room. When he was alone, Kenbukyou stood from his simple wooden throne and turned to the tapestry that hung on the wall opposite of his throne. Though it appeared nothing more than simple white fabric it changed radically when Kenbukyou ordered, "Show me my son." Colors blossomed on the fabric, changing and whirling until they settled and showed him a moving picture of a… something. Something immense flying through the sky, but that something clearly wasn't a bird. It was metal and it's wings didn't move as it flew. There were words written on the side of it. Beside the first winged machine, there came into focus three other machines, but these ones bore forms that looked vaguely human. "What is going on? Where's my son?" The tapestry, hearing the command of its master, began to close up on the winged machine. It kept going closer and closer until Kenbukyou could see clearly into one of the windows and he saw that there were people inside. Before long, it was as if he were also in the... whatever it was.

"This just isn't natural." Anubisu stared out a windows of the flying machine. "People shouldn't fly!"

"Get out and walk." A woman with short dark hair answered easily as she took a seat next to him and put a hand on his forearm. "Trust me, I've done this lots of times. It's perfectly safe."

"Easy for you to say," Anubisu muttered back.

Kenbukyou realize that circumstances had significantly changed when he saw Naaza, dressed as absurdly as any human, in coarse blue trousers and a shirt that left his arms bare, was catering to some human girl. "Do you need something to eat, Nasutei-sama?"

"No, thanks, Naaza-kun," the girl replied. "You really don't have to worry about me so much. Its not like I'm that far along and Mama Fan says there's nothing to worry about for a while."

Kenbukyou noted that there were quite a few humans, along with the Yoroi bearers, including Kongo. That one drew Kenbukyou's attention for a moment. It was Kongo who'd seen Kenbukyou's face for the first time in so many hundreds of years. Kongo was, surprisingly, sitting with a small child on his lap. He laughed loudly with the blue-haired Tenku about something before turning to a woman and spoke to her with a respectful tone.

Kenbukyou looked passed the mortals, the sleeping demon tigers, and finally saw the one he was looking for and shouted out to the tapestry, "Stop! Right there!"

Rajura. "My son."

**Rajura-**

Rajura had a vague feeling that he was being watched. For most normal humans, that would have been brushed off as paranoia. For Rajura, it made him suspicious and cautious. As one used to dealing with demons and other supernatural creatures, Rajura wasn't a man who could dismiss something like that so easily. He sat in the back of the airplane, listening to Anubisu complain about flying and watching while Touma and Abdul taught Ryou how to play poker, Xiu was arm wrestling with Rashid, Mama Fan was napping, along with a dozen other little things that were happening. It seemed his new family was growing.

The vision him hard and fast.

("My son.")

Rajura froze when the vision intruded on reality, making the plane and everything in it fade away into nothingness, and he tried to make out if this was a memory or a true vision of the future. It was sometimes hard to tell.

("Don't be afraid, my son." The man patted Rajura's head and turned away before Rajura could see his face. "I won't be gone long. There's something I have to do.")

Rajura knew then that it had been a memory, not a vision, exactly. It was nothing that he remembered, but most definitely it was a memory.

("Father? Where are you going?"

"Nowhere, my son." The man paused and tossed something over his shoulder. "Keep this for me, my son. It's a precious treasure."

Rajura caught the small, silver orb. It felt warm in his hand.)

So, it was his own father. _Funny,_ Rajura thought. _I can't remember what he looked like._

("Father, what... ?" But he never finished his question. His father had vanished, leaving Rajura alone in the house with only the orb. "I don't understand." Before Rajura could say another word the orb in his hand began to grow warm and then hot. When he could no longer stand to touch the thing, Rajura threw it away from him. It landed in the corner of the room and with a flash of fire, it seemed to explode into a suit of white armor. "How?"

There was no answer.)

When Rajura finally woke from the dream state he'd been in, he refocused on the people around him. The only ones who seemed to notice anything was wrong were Anubisu and Naaza, though neither said a word about it. They merely rubbed their minds against Rajura's to reassure themselves that he was all right.

**Dorothy-**

The news was not good. At least it wasn't going according to Dorothy's plans.

"General Septum, the inspired leader of the Alliance's military branch was mysterious murdered." The newscaster announced and everyone in the pacifist's school's dormitory gasped with horror.

Dorothy, though focusing on the new broadcasting on the large communal television, couldn't help but wonder if any of these people were faking the emotion of horror and outrage, like she was. Still, Dorothy stayed silent at the back of the room, watching as pictures of the murder site, a wooded area near the deceased general's home, was shown and the news castor continued.

"This brutal, unsolved murder has no suspects as it's widely known how popular General Septum was with the public. When asked for comments, an Alliance representative said, "We are all saddened and horrified by what has happened to a great man. This is a heinous crime that will not go unpunished and the Alliance will do anything necessary to see that the person or persons responsible are brought to justice. No one escapes justice."

**Wufei-**

Wufei snorted derisively as he listened to the news for the cockpit of his Gundam, his beloved Shen Long. "The Alliance knows nothing of Justice." He muttered to himself, carefully maneuvering his beautiful machine just behind the others.

Treize's plane, carrying the women and all those without Gundams, flew in the center of the formation with Heero's Wing Zero taking point and leading the way to Victoria Lake. Quatre, in his Sandrock, a very similar design to Heero's Wing Zero, flew to the right of the plane while Trowa, in Heavy Arms, took the left of the plane. It looked like exactly what it was, an armed escort. Who on Earth would be stupid enough to attack four Gundam's?

-Wufei? Are you listening to this?- Trowa's voice came over the communicator.

"Yes. I don't believe this nonsense," Wufei muttered, irritably. "What do they know of justice? I tell you justice was done when Duo and I killed him. The world is far better off now." He didn't mention that now he wouldn't have to worry about Septum bothering Nasty again.

-I don't have visual of the news broadcast.- Quatre said. -What exactly did you two do to him? They keep saying that it was something awful.-

For some reason, Wufei didn't want innocent little Quatre to think badly of him. After all, if nothing else, Quatre had gone though so much in just a few days and there was no telling how badly the torture was affecting him. "Well... they're making it out to be much worse than it was," Wufei told Quatre as gently as he could. "We just killed him, that's all... "

-And about time, too.- Duo added in.

Wufei could practically see Duo's smile. "Duo, do you mind?" He snapped, hoping to shut Duo up before he upset Quatre. Duo might not entirely remember what had happened, but Wufei did.

Wufei broke out in a sweat when he suddenly remembered exactly what had happened that night. They'd hunted Septum since the moment they'd found the proper tools, a scythe for Duo and Wufei's sword, waiting for the man at his house for him to return home. Crouched in the bushes just outside the man's front door, Wufei and Duo were absolutely silent and Wufei was starting to get an idea of what he was in for with Duo.

**Flashback-**

They'd already staked out the house and it was completely empty, but Wufei had insisted that it was safer to wait for their target outside, rather than inside.

"When's he gonna get here?" Duo whined, running his hand up and down the blade of his scythe.

"Hush!" Wufei snapped, not taking his eyes off the road where Septum was sure to be driving down any moment. The two boys were both crouched behind a long hedge that separated the road in front of Septum's house and the forests beyond.

Duo wasn't keeping so close an eye out for Septum, but sat facing the forest while contemplating his scythe. "Why?" Duo asked, not lowering his voice even a bit. "I don't understand why we're hiding. I saw that guy and there's no way he's going to be able to out fight us."

"I'd rather he not try to run away," Wufei told Duo. "This isn't exactly a pleasant thing to do, so I'd like to get it over with as soon as possible." No matter how often Wufei had to kill, he'd never get over the distaste of it. He was, after all, a scholar at heart, more likely to be found in a library than on a battlefield. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

"Doing what?" Duo angled his scythe so he could pick his teeth with the point.

"Don't do that!" Wufei's mouth fell open and he scooted away from Duo. "You'll hurt yourself!"

"Don't be silly," Duo said easily. "You worry too much. What can't you believe you're doing?"

"Skulking in the bushes, getting ready to ambush an unsuspecting man. I'm practically an assassin." It seemed so much worse than being called a freedom fighter.

"Yeah? You make it sound like a bad thing."

"It IS a bad thing!" Wufei scowled and turned away from Duo's flippant attitude. _If I hadn't seen him in action in the Youja-Kai, I'd have never thought that he was a trained fighter._ But the memory of seeing Duo go berserk on the battlefield, foam at his mouth and a wild look in his eyes, was all too fresh in Wufei's mind when he considered Duo. It was to easy to mistake Duo for just some simple fool, but Wufei had seen him in action. "Duo?"

"Hmm?" Duo took the scythe out of his mouth and looked at Wufei curiously.

"Have you considered what you're going to do in your life in this world? You have no mystical powers like your brothers so you haven't been asked to train the OZ soldiers. You have no training as a pilot, so you haven't been asked to be one of Treize's bodyguards." Wufei thought of what Duo's life must have been like in the Youja Kai. His brothers were leaders and men of great respect, he lived the life of a prince along with Ryou. "Do you even have an education?"

"Don't be stupid," Duo said. "Of course I was educated. Mama Sh'ten taught me reading and writing and sums. Sister Helen made sure I learned my lessons before I was adopted," Duo added, proudly, "I used to be able to recite most of the bible by heart and Sister Helen said no one else in the whole orphanage could do that!"

"You 'used' to be able to?" Wufei looked at him curiously, but Duo seemed suddenly uncomfortable and looked away, into the forest.

"Well, I kind of forgot," Duo said shortly. "It's been a long time, you know?"

"Forgot?" Wufei pressed.

"Naaza-san didn't like the bible." Duo's tone was tense and it was easy to see that he didn't like the turn of the subject. "He called it infantile, idealistic foolishness. I brought my bible with me to the Youja Kai, you know. Sister Helen gave me one once when I was very little. Well, I took it with me when Naaza-san and Mama Sh'ten adopted me and Ryou. Naaza-san found it one night. I was reading it. I always liked reading. He got awful mad." Duo drew his legs up to his chest and still held tightly onto his scythe. "I never heard him yell so much as when he found out what I was reading."

Wufei scowled as a mental image of what Duo was describing and how frightening it must have been for such a young child to see someone he obviously admired and loved turn so suddenly furious. "Did he get... violent?" It was a delicately asked question.

Duo's eyes widened before he nearly shouted, "No! Of course not! Naaza-san would never hurt me! Don't be stupid."

"Be silent!" Wufei commanded again. "I didn't mean any insult, but the way you were talking... "

Duo sagged slightly, his anger leaving as quickly as it had arrived. "He was just angry. He didn't hurt me. None of my onnisan's ever hurt me unless it was training. Naaza-san's knew a Christian once, when he was a child. Something bad happened and he doesn't like Christianity anymore. He didn't like me reading it so... so he threw it in the fire." Pain was clearly written on Duo's face while he thought about this.

"Duo... I'm sorry." Wufei didn't know what else to say. Religion had never been a big part of his life, but he could see how traumatic it had been for Duo to have a symbol of his faith destroyed by someone he loved.

"It's not that big of a deal. I'm over it. Really." Duo gave a very unconvincing smile. "Besides, it turns out I wouldn't have been a very good Christian anyway." He looked at the scythe lovingly. "I think I enjoy bad things a little to much. Sister Helen never would have approved." Duo looked up when a glare of car headlights shone on the trees around them. "Ah!" Duo's smile brightened. "Here he is now. I was wondering if he'd gotten into an accident. Now, Wufei, have you ever done this before?"

"Done what?" Wufei's hand tightened on his sword's hilt. He also wore his gun, but would rather use his sword. A gun was just too... impersonal.

"Killed. Actually killing a person is a lot different than fighting." Duo's voice was far from cold while they peered through the bushes at the car as it pulled up in front of the house. In fact, Duo sounded rather... excited. Duo licked his lips in anticipation. "It's going to be messy, I intend to make him pay for everything he's done. Every-little-thing." Duo's knuckles were white, he gripped the scythe so tightly. "If you don't want to do this, you can turn back."

"He's killed all but three people in my family." Wufei's eyes narrowed as he focused on Septum. "I'm not about to let this opportunity slip away."

Septum was getting out of his car and spoke to his driver for a moment. Then, he walked to the other side of the car and opened the door for someone. Out got a young boy who couldn't have been much more than ten. The boy was dressed very skimpily and the way Septum had his arm over the boy's shoulder left no doubt about what the boy was.

"A chicken hawk," Wufei muttered in disgust when Septum let his hand fall from the boy's shoulder down to the boy's ass. There were few things as disgusting as a chicken hawk and if Wufei had any doubts about what had to be done with Septum, they were now gone.

"Huh?" Duo asked, this time keeping his voice low. "What are you talking about?"

"Septum is a chicken hawk. A young male prostitute is called a chicken." Wufei replied, his dislike for Septum growing by the minute. "I think you can figure out what it means. We should grab him before he gets into the house, we don't want him alerting his staff. I want this done quickly and with a minimum of bloodshed."

"Whatever you like. Look, the driver's pulling away. Now!" Duo and Wufei sprang from their hiding place swiftly and grabbed Septum before he knew what had hit him. While Wufei slapped his hand over Septum's mouth to stop the man from crying out, Duo went to the child and first slipped his hand over the boy's eyes before he hit the boy as hard as he could on the top of the head. The boy fell lick a ton of bricks, unconscious, and Duo left him there.

Septum, of course, struggled, but Wufei hit him over the head with the butt of his gun, knocking the larger man out.

"What did you hurt the boy for?" Wufei asked when he'd dragged Septum into the dark forest. "He's just a child!"

"If he doesn't know what we look like, he can't be a witness against us. Besides, I don't think either one of us wants a little child to see what we're going to do right now."

Duo moved up to sit next to Wufei next to Septum's still body. "Shall we play?"

"Sometimes I worry about you," Wufei admitted. "I think you enjoy this to much."

"There's nothing wrong with enjoying one's work. Mama Sh'ten taught me lots of neat things, so... "

Wufei didn't wait for Duo to finish the sentence. _Sh'ten?! The one who possessed Quatre and did all that stuff to Doctor J? Shit!_ Wufei pulled out his gun again and aimed for Septum's head.

"What are you doing?" Duo demanded, grabbing the gun and struggling to get it away from Wufei. "We agreed he had to be punished! What are you going shoot him for? That's too fast!"

Wufei put all of his strength into fighting for the gun until he managed to flip Duo. Duo, however, still didn't let go of the gun and just pulled Wufei along with him into the dirt. "I saw what your Mama Sh'ten does to people! I don't want to look at that again!"

"Then close your eyes!" Duo shouted back. "I wanna do this right!"

They rolled around on the dusty ground, neither one gaining the upper hand until Septum groaned and started to wake up. They both froze, with Duo sitting on Wufei's chest, before looking at each other. "I guess we should stop arguing," Duo said at last, getting off Wufei.

"Civilized people don't need to roll around in the dirt like this." Wufei agreed as he sat up. The gun lay on the ground between them and neither moved to pick it up. "What are we going to do? I don't want to see anyone as horribly tortured as your mama did to Doctor J. I... " Wufei hated to admit it. "I just don't have the stomach for it."

Duo looked disappointed. "Oh, all right. I really don't know why you don't like it, but we'll compromise a little. He must feel the pain."

Wufei nodded. "Fine, but it won't be inhumane punishment. We are better than he is and do not need to restore to pure torture for the fun of it."

Duo frowned. "What good is torture if you don't enjoy it?"

"... " Wufei just stared at Duo. "Please, tell me you're trying to make a joke."

"Why would I do that?" Duo reached under his shirt and pulled out several small items including a coiled piece of wire, three nails, and a spool of thread. He sat on his haunches and considered what he'd brought. "I think I should have taken time to pack more toys."

"Honestly, you're really sick. You know that?"

Duo grinned. "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but whips and chains excite me."

"How does Heero stand you?"

"He hasn't complained so far." Duo's smile faltered for a moment and when he looked at Wufei again, there was something odd in his eyes. "Aren't you curious, 'Fei? Don't you want to know what we're going to do?"

Wufei had a distinctly bad feeling about this. Duo seemed like an entirely different person all of a sudden, even his voice was different. "I have a pretty good idea, Duo."

"Mmmm. But you don't like it, do you, 'Fei?" Duo pulled out the wire and started twisting it around his hands, like a garrote. "I'm going to kill him, in the end. That's mercy, you know. I won't let his torment go on forever, but I will see him in pain." Suddenly, Duo jumped to his feet and looked all around. "Let's go inside."

"What? Why?" Wufei stood also and looked at the house to make sure it was still empty.

"I want to play a little game. Don't be afraid." Duo walked around Septum, towards Wufei. Even the way Duo walked seemed different, less carefree and more... seductive. Wufei turned away from Duo slightly, but Duo seized his arm firmly and drew the two of them together. Closer than Wufei had ever been with another boy. "You aren't afraid of me, are you, 'Fei?"

"I'm afraid of no one, Duo." Wufei told him.

"Good. Very, very good. Don't be afraid of me. I won't ever hurt you. But I need your help now. How well do you know your bible?"

Wufei pulled his arm out of Duo's grip and felt instantly more comfortable. "I'm Buddhist. I don't know a thing about your faith."

"A pity. I think you'd have done well in the role I wanted you to play. Still, no matter." Duo took Septum by one arm and waited for Wufei to do the same. "Let's get him inside and get ready."

"What, exactly, are we going to do?" Wufei asked, though he did as Duo asked.

Duo's smile was wicked. "I'm going to scare him so badly, he's going to wish we'd killed him outright."

They swept the house for servants or other potential witnesses. Other than the child, the chicken, there was no one. It made sense. He wouldn't have kept his servants around on the off chance that one would object to his rented boy.

Duo chose the room they would 'play' in. "This one is perfect," Duo said when they found a dark inner room with no windows. It was a large room and had several mirrors on the walls. At Duo's instructions, they moved all the furniture out of the room, including the rugs until the room was completely bare except for the mirrors. Then, they went in search of more mirrors. In such a large house, Duo was able to practically fill the room. Big ones and small ones, when Duo was finished the whole room was filled. Then Duo added a few lit candles, giving the room an eerie feel.

"What else do we need?" Wufei asked, wondering at Duo's elaborate plans for a simple execution.

"Just a few finishing touches." Duo again got a little too close for comfort and put his arms around Wufei. He laughed softly when Wufei stiffened at the close contact. "I told you not to be afraid of me, 'Fei." His breath tickled on Wufei's ear. "I give my heart to many people, but my body is only for Heero. I won't attack you." Duo pulled the elastic out of Wufei's hair and Wufei felt his shoulder length hair fall loose. Duo ran his fingers through Wufei's hair, fluffing it out. "Good. Now, take off your shirt."

"What?!" Wufei demanded, putting a protective hand to his shirt. His inborn modesty made him blush at such a thought of taking his clothes off in public.

"Take your shirt off. I want to give you a few tattoos. Don't worry, I'll just draw them on with some ink." It was only then that Wufei saw Duo had brought an inkwell and a quill pen in with all the candles. "Trust me on this." The next twenty minutes were spent with Duo drawing elaborate, dreadfully looking designs on Wufei's chest, arms, neck and finally on his face.

"This had better wash off," Wufei grumbled when Duo began working on his face. The thought of Nasty seeing him looking like some kind of savage was just to painful to bear.

"Trust me." Duo didn't pause in his work.

"Not likely."

Septum woke after all of Duo's preparations had been completed. He groaned before he opened his eyes and sat up, staring around at the mirrors and his own reflection lit by a candle's dim flame.

"Do ye indeed speak righteousness,

O congregation?

Do ye judge uprightly , O ye sons of

men?

Yea, in heart ye work wickedness;

Ye weigh the violence of your hands

In the earth."

Duo's voice was soft, coming from behind the mirror and it made Septum looked around. The whole room was filled with mirrors and candles in candelabras or just sitting on the floor in cooling pools of their own melted wax.

"Who are you?" Septum demanded, steeling his voice. He started to stand up, but found his feet and hands were bound with wire. "Who the Hell are you?! Do you have any idea who you're dealing with?" Septum reached down and began pulling at the wire around his ankles.

"The wicked are estranged from the womb;

they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.

Their poison is like the poison of a

Serpent:

They are like the deaf adder that

Stoppeth her ear;

Which will not hearken to the voice

Of charmers,

Charming never so wisely."

Duo spoke again and his choice of words was obviously making Septum just a little nervous. What kind of criminal spouted bible verses at their victim? An insane one. Out from behind a mirror Wufei stepped and Septum froze in his struggles.

Wufei knew how he looked, Duo had gone to so much trouble to decorate him. He had a strangely demonic cast to him, all tattooed and his hair long and wild. His eyes were dark and filled with hate and in one hand he held Duo's scythe. Wufei didn't bother to hide his hate for this man who'd taken Meriran out of this world and caused his family so much pain.

"Who are you?" Septum demanded, making himself sound as in control as possible. "Let me go this instant!"

Wufei fell to his knees in a fluid movement, still clutching the scythe, and put himself at eye level with Septum. "You mistake who is master here. I am the demon who comes for your soul." Duo had told him to say this. Apparently, Duo had a flare for the dramatics.

"You're mad." Septum stated with disgust.

"Perhaps."

Septum suddenly found the scythe at his throat and the Wufei moved to sit behind him and grabbed a handful of hair, wrenching Septum's head and forcing him to look ahead at one of the large mirrors that stood in the middle of the room. Septum took a good look at his attacker, sitting behind him, in the mirror.

Duo, still hidden behind the mirrors, spoke again, this time raising his volume and fervor.

"Break their teeth, O God, in their

mouth:"

At that, Duo stepped out from behind the mirror with his braid undone to make him look even more unworldly than he usually did. Wufei could see why Heero was attracted to Duo, he was incredibly beautiful. Duo spoke with great passion in his voice, if not joy. In fact, he seemed almost angry.

"Break out the great teeth of the

young lions, O Lord."

Septum began to sweat as he listened to the fiery speech of the boy and watched the cold, icy expression of Wufei in the mirror. "Stop it," Septum snarled. "Shut up and tell me what you want."

"Let them melt away as water which

run continually:

When he bendeth his bow to shoot

his arrows,

let them be as cut in pieces."

Duo began to walk slowly around the room, occasionally vanishing behind the mirrors before reappearing. He didn't look at Septum, but acted as if he were alone in the room, sometimes even speaking to his own reflections in the mirror. All the time, though, his voice grew louder and louder, more passionate, more feverish. He began to throw his arms around, gesturing wildly to the room around him.

"Shut up!!" Septum tried to move again, only to find the scythe press closer to his throat, enough to cut in and draw blood. "Just tell me what you want! I've got plenty of money... " Neither of the boys were listening and Duo continued his fire and brimstone sermon.

""As a snail which melteth,

let everyone of them pass away:

like the untimely birth of a woman,

that they may not see the sun.

Before your pots can feel the thorns,

He shall take them away as with a

whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath!"

At the words 'in his wrath', Duo turned to Septum, looking directly at him with furious eyes oozing hatred and he screamed the words as loudly as he could.

"The righteous shall rejoice when he

seeth the vengeance:"

Duo stood over Septum and reached down to touch the older man almost kindly on the cheek. He leaned over, putting his angelic face closer and closer to Septum.

"He shall wash his feet in the blood of

the wicked."

Duo's voice lowered dramatically until he was whispering, his violet eyes like magnets that wouldn't let Septum turn away. At once kind and malevolent, Duo truly didn't seem human. Couldn't be human. Duo, kneeling now in front of Septum, looked up giving the impression of looking directly at the glorious face of his God.

"So that a man shall say, Verily there

is a reward for the righteous:

verily he is a God that judgeth in the

earth."

Wufei smelled something repulsive and knew that Septum had soiled himself, but the older man didn't dare look away from Duo. Perhaps he was afraid that if he dared to look away, God would strike him dead, right then and there.

Finally, after a long silence, Duo lowered his eyes to look at Septum and spoke in a more normal tone. "It's me, you know."

"You?" Septum really didn't know what to say.

"Yes, me. I am the vengeance of God and I have been delivered to this earth to bring evil the reward they have earned." He put both hands on Septum's face, holding his face gently. "You have done many evil things and you will have your teeth broken and be made harmless."

Wufei knew Duo wasn't going to stop with just breaking a few teeth.

"Please, let me go."

"But God has made his judgment." Duo smiled, sweetly. "There is no questioning the word of Lord God and after your most dreadful deeds, the sentence is strict. Punishment must be carried out in the name of all mighty God."

"Please! I'll give you anything!" At that moment, Wufei knew, Septum would have promised the sun if it would get him out of here. It was sort of disappointing to find out that one's great enemy was a coward without his military to back him up.

"Anything?"

"Yes! I'll get you money, whatever you want! Just let me go!"

"The price of freedom is pain and blood," The Duo told Septum. "Are you willing to pay for your freedom?"

"YES!"

"Will you give me your hair?"

From where he was sitting, Wufei couldn't see Septum's expression, but he could guess how dumbfounded the older man must look. "Hair... why?"

"Will you give me your hair?"

It must have seemed like such a small price to pay because Septum readily answered, "Yes, of course."

Duo reached out to Wufei and, at that prearranged signal, Wufei handed Duo the knife he'd been carrying. It was like something out of history, watching someone be scalped. Septum screamed and cried while Duo removed the man's hair along with a layer of skin, but Wufei held him firmly in place. Duo worked with a trace of joy on his face until Septum's head was completely bare with bloody dripping down his face and the back of his neck.

Septum seemed shocked to find the top of his head in his lap in a sticky, bloody mess. "Please, let me go," Septum said faintly, unable to take his eyes off the chunks skin and blood on his lap.

"You said you'd give me anything," Duo reminded him, completely unfazed that he had blood up to his wrists.

"Yes."

"Will you give me your hand?"

Septum actually raised one of his hands and stared at it a moment, as if he were thinking about it. "Yes." He offered the hand to Duo and Duo promptly set it on the floor and held it steady. Duo reached out and took the sword at Wufei's hip. With the efficiency of a machine and the pride of an artisan chopped down just at the wrist.

Their victim passed out then, unsurprisingly. Duo picked up the hand and looked at it as if fascinated while the blood drained out of it onto the floor. "Don't be afraid, Wufei." Duo muttered, not looking at him. "I'm almost done. Almost."

When Septum woke up, Duo was ready with his next request. He put both hands on the sides of Septum's face, holding him steady.

_He's loosing blood quickly._ Wufei watched as the puddle around them grew and grew. _Whatever Duo wants to do, he should do it soon._ No matter how calm he tried to keep himself, Wufei felt his stomach rolling at the sight of so much blood. There was a vast difference between killing as a warrior and torturing someone to death.

"Will you give me your manhood?" Duo asked, shocking Wufei. It was distasteful at the very best.

Grey and dazed, so close to death, Septum nodded. "Free me."

"Oh," Duo looked regretfully at Septum even as he lay Wufei's sword on the floor beside him and took the scythe from Wufei. "I'm so sorry. I can't do that."

Septum blinked blearily up at Duo, swooning where he sat.

"You see, only God can free a person from their sins. You'll have to ask Him for forgiveness when you see Him." Duo castrated Septum with one quick slice. "Ask God for forgiveness and He can free you."

Septum was starting to slump down, finally overcome by the shock and blood loss. "F-forgive?" Then his eyes closed and he finally died, laying in a puddle of his own blood and excrement.

"He's done." Wufei announced, standing up. This had to have been one of the most monstrous things he'd ever witnessed. Thankfully, Duo had kept his promise and hadn't even come close to the horror Sh'ten had done to Doctor J. "Let's get out of here."

Duo bolted out of the room. When Wufei found him, Duo was furiously washing his hands in the kitchen sink. "I have to wash up before we leave, Wufei. I wouldn't want to upset Duo."

Wufei blinked, put on guard by the easy comment. "What are you talking about?"

Duo looked at Wufei over his shoulder with mild surprise. "Why, Wufei! Don't tell me you thought I was Duo all this time?" He laughed. "Duo is such a sweet and gentle boy. He's not suited for this. The last thing I want is for him to wake up all bloody. He won't remember a thing. It would just be too much for him."

"Duo won't remember what happened here?"

"Oh, he'll remember parts of it. He'll remember quoting the bible at Septum and he'll remember that the man died. However, he's going to remember that you shot Septum point blank with you gun and that he died instantly. It'll be easier on him."

**End flashback**

**To be continued...**


	40. Deathscythe

**Chapter 40: Deathscythe**

Anubisu-

Anubisu didn't like the airplane. He wished he could be so at ease as the children who slept after some hours of traveling or like Treize and Zechs who played hands of a card game. Even the strong-willed Mama Fan seemed to be drifting to sleep. He couldn't help the terror that ate away at his gut like some awful beast. The noise of the airplane was all around, a constant rumble that never altered and was made all the worse by the other, almost human shaped ships flying behind and around them. Not only did Heero, Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei fly their giant metal monsters, but there was also Quatre's people who used smaller, but no less fearsome beasts to fly through the sky. It seemed unnatural. They were neither birds nor bats and really had no business with their feet off land, in Anubisu's opinion. The windows were tiny and made him feel as if he were stuck in a tin box. Before long he was drumming his fingers against his leg in agitation.

"Just a little longer," Rajura muttered, shifting to rest his knee on Anubisu's. "You've never traveled so far before, have you?"

"Never. I don't like the sound of this Africa. All that heat… "

"Will not kill you." He looked down at his lap. "You can always go back."

"And leave the family? No. The children are determined to go and we can't leave them alone. Regardless of that, I am practical enough to know we must find a place for ourselves in this world. Odd. I had never thought to live here, again. Blue sky. Life… everywhere. I think I have grown too used to the Youja-Kai."

"Then we shall all adapt to life, again. It's gone. There's no place for us there and even if there were, I think it's time for a new path. We followed that one quite long enough." Rajura fell silent after that, leaning back in the oddly shaped chair and tilting his head back. His white hair fell in soft curls around his shoulders and his single working eye closed as if he'd fallen asleep.

Rajura was right, of course, but the idea of living with humans worried Anubisu. They had followed Arago for so long, obeying orders they didn't agree with simply for having a place where they belonged. At least in a world filled with demons and nightmare-monsters, no one stared at them. No one threw rocks or tried to kill them simply for who they were as long as they'd allowed themselves to stay under Arago's rule.

"You worry too much," Rajura said, without opening his eye. "Everything will work out."

"How can you be certain?"

Rajura opened his eye and looked up at the ceiling of the airplane. "This is life. It must change and it's good that it does. Nothing ever changed when we were with Arago. Here, everything changes sooner or later, but we are together and we will survive these changes. I believe that with everything that I am." A small smile twisted Rajura's lips. "We survived a demon. We have survived centuries in a place where humans were never meant to be. This new life will throw hardship at us, but it will not defeat us. You must believe that. Now, be at ease and rest. Soon, we should be in this new land - Africa."

**Noin-**

They arrived in the blistering heat of the African summer. It was so bright that Anubisu gasped in pain and covered his sensitive eyes with his hands when the bright light hit them. He was hunched over, his face on his knees, when Rajura put one hand on Anubisu's back and put his other hand over the one covering Anubisu's face. Anubisu's breathing eased and he saw up. When he took his hands away from his face, Noin was surprised to see him wearing sunglasses. Anubisu didn't thank Rajura aloud, but he did give the other man a nod before he sat back in his seat.

Sometimes they could go hours without speaking, she'd noticed. Naaza rarely spoke to anyone, but he would frequently look to the others from where he sat near Nasutei. It was like that with all of them. Noin had been watching all of the so called yoroi bearers during the trip as discreetly as she could and found herself stunned by their interdependence. It was little things; an unthinking touch, a soft word, or just a look. Several points during the trip every one of them had stood up from whatever they'd been doing and moved around the cabin to visit - that was the only word she could find for it - with the others. Rajura did it most often. He would push himself off his seat and slid by Anubisu, putting a hand on Anubisu's shoulder as he did, then make a round of the cabin. He went to Naaza, first, with a smile and a touch to Naaza's unusual hair. After Naaza looked up at him or reached up to brush his own hand against Rajura's, Rajura would move on. He paused by each of the younger boys, exchanging a word here and there, and taking a few minutes to speak softly with Xiu, and though he wasn't tactile with any of the other younger boys, he did give Ryou a quick one-armed embrace. It only lasted a few minutes and when it was done, Rajura went back to his seat between Noin and Anubisu and sat quietly until the next time he made his round. Anubisu would also do it, as did Ryou, Shin, Touma, Xiu and, even Seiji.

Zechs met Noin's eyes at one point and she knew that he'd noticed it, too. The 'checking-in' with each other was, Noin believed, more a safety measure. With Rajura, Anubisu, and Naaza she believed it was due to the dependence they must have formed on one another during the enforced isolation they'd been in for centuries. It made her angry, but more than that, it saddened Noin to know that the men had been imprisoned for centuries without any hope of freedom. Even if they didn't see it as imprisonment, that was what it had been. A demon so powerful that it had had a good chance at conquering the world without anyone being aware of it had kept them like dogs, training them for battle until it was ready to unleash them on the world.

Noin looked out the window and thought about being so alone. To depend on only three other people for everything, to live with them whether she'd liked them or not… to become so used to that dependence that even in a peaceful situation they couldn't seem to go more than a few minutes without checking on one another…

"You're thinking dark thoughts," Rajura whispered.

How did he stay sane? Had they liked each other at first sight? Had they formed relationships because there was no choice - no one else? Noin wanted to ask all of that, but she closed her mouth and shook her head. "I suppose it doesn't matter." But she couldn't help but look over at Seiji who sat slightly ahead of where she was with Rajura and Anubisu. Treize's personal plane didn't have rows of seat, oh no. That would be to impersonal. Instead he had it outfitted with plush carpet and groupings of seats with sofa's pushed together and small tables on which to put trays of food or drink. If nothing else, Treize loved comfort. "I'm very happy."

"Are you?"

"He won't be like you." It didn't sound as good aloud as it had in her head and Noin flushed as soon as she spoke. "Sorry. I didn't mean it like that. It's just…"

Rajura looked like he would laugh. "You're apologizing because you're happy your brother won't be confined for centuries in a lonely abyss with a world of demons would like nothing better than to drink his soul and devour his mind and body? That is not something you should apologize for. He is lucky. If I could have spared any of them, I would have."

Seiji was, of course, sitting with Ryou and the other three boys. The five boys who'd only recently been chosen by their yoroi, as Anubisu had put it so dramatically, seemed to find a great deal of comfort in being together. Ryou, who'd never flown before, was not only holding on tightly to Seiji's hand but he also had Shin's hand in a firm grasp.

"Do you think they'll be like the three of you?" Noin asked, nodding her head towards where the boys sat.

"How do you mean?"

"You all seem to rely on one another very much." Noin bit her lip as she tried to think of away to explain her thoughts. "Interdependent within the group."

"Interdependent? That seems a weak word for what we are. I'm sorry, but I just don't know how it will work out with them. They seem to be very much like us so I would anticipate them bonding as we did. You're frightened for your brother?"

"Shouldn't I be?"

"Yes. It's natural, I think. He must be very different than you expected." Rajura looked over at the younger boys and smiled. "It's a frightening life and I don't think they really understand that, yet. When Sh'ten died, I felt it. We all did. A real, physical death. To feel that and live on… to have the part of us that had been filled with him suddenly empty… I can't explain the pain. It was death, but living on. Breathing and moving and thinking, but being dead at the same time."

Noin felt ill. "You make it sound like he'll never be able to get away from them."

"He won't want to."

"He might. What if it turns out that they don't like one another? What happens if they have a fight and don't want anything to do with each other? He should be able to leave."

Anubisu, adding to the conversation for the first time, said, "He should. You're right. Don't look at me like that, Rajura. We've all gone though it. This life, it's no paradise. We fight and we hurt each other. I've run away a few times, just trying to get away. I nearly killed Sh'ten myself, once. And Naaza…" He paused and looked at Naaza who, while he didn't look happy, gave a brief nod and looked away. "Naaza hated everyone and everything - especially himself. Being forced to live with people he'd never met nearly drove him mad, I think, and he made our lives as unpleasant as possible. Learning to live together took time. But I went back after running away. Naaza settled down. Sh'ten… well, I don't think he ever had a problem with any of it. It'll take the young ones time and pain and, in the end, they'll accept what fate handed them."

It didn't make Noin any happier. "They should have a choice."

"Yes. They should. But they don't." Rajura took her hand and squeezed it. "None of us do."

Noin returned Rajura's squeeze. "Seiji spends all his time with them. He doesn't need me anymore." Saying it aloud made her throat constrict painfully. "I can't stand this." She wanted him to need her, just a little while longer. She wanted him to look to her for comfort and security and a shoulder to cry on, but Seiji never had, not even that first day he'd come back to her. He'd never needed her.

"You've done nothing wrong." The voice, strangely enough, came from Naaza, who had moved at some point to sit beside Anubisu and starred at Noin with his unblinking, lazy eyes. "The boy isn't normal and he never will be. Even if he'd been raised in your home with your loving parents, he would have been different."

"You can't know that." Noin glared at him. "Seiji was just like every other kid until he was kidnapped! He was happy and talkative and... "

"And he still would have been chosen by the yoroi," Naaza replied calmly. "He still would have been destined to be a warrior with inhuman power. Your love is dear to him, but you can not come between what he has with his brothers. They are apart of him."

Noin looked, again, at Seiji with his friends and she saw his lips draw back in a tiny smile at something Xiu said. He looked so happy and it dawned on Noin that he had never looked so happy when it was just the two of them. Tears began to burn Noin's eyes.

"It's not the end of the world." Anubisu said. "There's no need for such a long face. He'll love you until the day he dies. It's just that he has to be with them."

Noin looked back at her lap. "You make it sound like I'm giving him up for marriage."

"In a way, you are." Anubisu must have seen how upset Noin was at this topic, so he changed the subject. " I take it he still hasn't told you exactly what happened to him when he'd been kidnapped?"

"No. He just doesn't trust me."

"I don't think it has to do with trust," Rajura commented, casting his own glance at Seiji. "It's part of his past and he's practical enough to put the past behind him. He knows you love him and won't hurt him. I suppose he knows that nothing he does will stop the pain of his memories. He doesn't want you to be in the same pain so he doesn't tell you what he went through."

"If he keeps it locked up inside, though... "

"He hasn't," Anubisu interrupted. "We can't keep secrets like that, at least not at first. Your brother is very strong-willed, but when the yoroi first comes to us, it's impossible to keep our minds closed. His friends, his brothers, know everything that's ever happened to him. Since the moment the yoroi appeared, the four of them know every intimate secret about Seiji and he knows their secrets." Anubisu gave her a reassuring smile. "He'll never be alone now."

"I hope you're right," Noin said. She rubbed her eyes and took a moment to get a hold of herself. "We're only a few minutes away, now. I think you'll find it very interesting. Treize has a habit of picking up strays and he sort of deposits us all here, at the base. I think you'll like Shark."

**Anubisu-**

The airplane landed on the runway of the base no more than twenty minutes after Noin had mentioned Treize's strays and even before they landed Anubisu, with Rajura's illusion sunglasses protecting his eyes, could see the strays lined up in neat rows near the runway. The base was large, though, of course, not as large as Arago's palace had been. It was a complex of massive, round-topped buildings with rectangular connections, walkways, perhaps, connecting them. From the air they could see well-marked out areas on the ground which Noin told them were training areas. A short distance away from the runway the Gundam machines and the smaller maganac ships landed in a marvelous storm of sand and steam. It took only a minute for Anubisu to see the hatches of the machines open and their pilots, plus Duo, climbing out. Anubisu was pleased that when the airplaned landed and stopped moving he could see Duo getting out of Heero's white Gundam. He'd been worried for a time about letting Duo go off on his own, but Heero proved to be very sensible and took good care of Duo.

"How many soldiers are there?" Anubisu asked Noin, looking from the window of the airplane at the soldiers while they got ready to exit. They looked like toy soldiers his mother had given him long ago all lined up in little rows.

"Two hundred and thirty-eight, to be exact, counting Zechs and myself." Noin answered. "If you're curious about rank, Treize is our commander-in-chief, Zechs and I are generals. Our rank is completely separate from the Alliance. Shark," she nodded towards a woman standing in front of the long lines of soldiers awaiting them. "Is our base commander and is in charge of running the base and all of the soldiers. She answers directly to Treize, Zechs, or myself. Under her, she has three colonels and then six majors, right down to the privates. Our little arm is very well organized."

Anubisu wondered idly how large the enemy's army was and whether or not it would be a good war. He could practically feel his blood starting to boil at the thought of being on the battlefield again.

Looking at the soldiers, both men and women, from the airplane window, Anubisu could see people from all parts of the world and he saw people he never would have expected to see in an army.

"Quite a rabble, aren't we?" Noin chuckled. "OZ may be home for the misfits of the military, but we've got a good thing going on. You see him? The man in the wheelchair?" Noin pointed. "He's a communications expert and is fluent in more than fifty languages. No one in the Alliance's military can boast to that. We've also got a woman who's completely blind. She's our electronics wizard and is practically a genius. And that old man?" She pointed again to an elderly man with a face fully of wrinkles who couldn't have been less than ninety years old. He was nevertheless dressed proudly in the military uniform. "He's had seventy years of service and is a wonderful tactician. All of us are considered inferior to the Alliance's ideal soldier, so we were given to Treize."

"You make yourself sound like a rusty sword. It can be throw away in favor of a shiny new one, but it's still more than usable."

"Maybe. I like to think of us as a rusty steel sword thrown away in favor of a shiny gold one."

Anubisu scowled. "Why would anyone want a gold sword? It's too weak heavy, no good in a battle. A steel one is much more practical, even if it is a bit rusty."

Noin patted his cheek in a most patronizing manner. "My point exactly. Anyway, I just don't want you underestimating our soldiers without seeing what they can do."

"It's not up to me." Anubisu looked back at the waiting soldiers, finding himself more impressed now that he had this information from Noin. "Rajura will make the decisions for us and how we train your people."

"Yes, but I know he listens to your opinions."

They left the airplane with Treize, wearing his fully military regalia, striding proud towards the waiting soldiers. Noin and Zechs, also in uniform, walked on either side of him. The rest of their company brought up the rear. Treize didn't stop walking until he stood a yard or so in front of Shark.

Shark, Anubisu found out, was a four-foot tall woman, even shorter than little Kay, with fair hair cropped nearly to the scalp. Despite the stern expression she wore and the stiff set of her shoulders, Shark was unmistakably a woman. Her grey uniform with the black band strapped around her left bicep, identical to all the other OZ uniforms, could do little to hide that fact. The little woman stood as tall as she could and gave Treize a salute which Treize promptly returned.

"Commander," Shark said with a voice that seemed too sweet for such a hard looking little woman. "It's a pleasure to have you with us again. It's been far to long since your last visit."

"A pleasure to be back," Treize replied, smiling happily as he cast a quick look at the soldiers beyond the little woman. "I see you've been keeping everything in order. Excellent." Treize dropped his tone so only Shark could hear him. "Are we finished with the formalities, yet?"

Shark's stony expression didn't so much as twitch as she whispered, "The soldiers would appreciate an inspection, sir."

"Must I?"

"They all woke up early just to polish their buttons for you, sir."

"Oh, alright." Treize sounded resigned, though for his troops who watched him eagerly, he smiled brightly.

**Noin-**

The introductions didn't start out well.

Anubisu, the first of the newcomers to be introduced, and Shark stared at each other for quite a while before Anubisu grinned. He looked over his shoulder at Treize and asked, "Are you sure she's fully grown? It's unwise to allow women to fight, but you've put this child in command of men?"

Several of the OZ troops standing at attention behind Shark visibly flinched.

Shark turned to Treize and said, quite calmly, "General, if you would excuse us for a moment." Then, to Anubisu, "May I have a word in private?"

Looking quite amused with the anticipation of being dressed down by an under-grown girl who barely reached his waist, Anubisu followed Shark as she walked away from the troops in formation and out behind the nearest building.

"Pardon me for asking," Rajura spoke softly to Noin as he watched them curiously. "What is going on? Who is that girl?"

"That woman," Noin said, smiling innocently while she watch Anubisu go for his first education about the modern military woman. "Is in control of this entire base and all the personnel. She works directly under Zechs and myself and she'll be your equal while you work here. As Anubisu is about to learn, it's wise to treat her with respect, if nothing else."

"Is this something I should warn him about?" Rajura asked, raising one eyebrow.

Noin shook her head. "I wouldn't bother. It's a good lesson about respect for women and it's better to get this sort of thing take care of now rather than later." As much as Noin might have liked to stop Anubisu from getting hurt, he was a big boy and could deal with the consequences of his own mouth. "He really shouldn't have said what he did."

Moments after walking away with Anubisu, Shark came back alone and saluted Treize. "Now, where were we, General? Ah, yes. You were introducing our new trainers. Carry on, sir."

Treize leaned in a little and whispered, "Did you hurt him to badly? I wanted them to start in the morning."

"He'll live." Shark sniffed, as if it really didn't matter. "If he doesn't, he's not worthy of being here, now is he?"

"I think you'll find these brothers quite worthy of OZ. They've got a few surprises in store for the troops and I have faith that Rajura will solve our little deficiency with hand to hand combat." Treize grinned and indicated Rajura who stepped forward and bowed politely. "May I introduce Rajura, the elder of our three new trainers. He will be in charge of them and should you need anything from them, I believe he may be the most approachable." This last he said even more quietly, though Rajura spoke up,

"No need to whisper. We can all hear you quite well. You are correct, however. I am the nicest out of us all." He smiled charmingly.

"You say that like it's a good thing." Naaza spoke up.

Shark looked Rajura up and down. "You sure you're in the military? You look kind of weak to me." To her credit, Shark was being honest. While he had the new clothes bought for him at the local mall, Rajura found that he really didn't like modern clothes - trousers were too confining and all the fabric was coarse - so he'd reverted to his silk kimono's and sandals. Right now, the Gen Ma-Sho was dressed in a pink and black kimono, giving him an even more feminine air than he usually had with his long hair and slender body. It was only his eye patch that gave any indication that Rajura might be familiar with the harsher side of life.

Rajura smiled. "I believe it was that sort of remark that encouraged you to take my younger brother for a private conversation. Which reminds me," He looked over his shoulder. "Duo, Ryou, see to Anubisu."

"Yes, 'Jura-san," the boys chorused obediently before trotting off to find their brother.

If Rajura was insulted by Shark's words, he didn't show it. Instead, he smiled and gave her a courteous bow. "We have been warned not to take you or your troops lightly based on first appearances. You would do me great honor if you would bear that advice in mind when considering myself and my brothers."

"Your brother didn't seem to impressive to me," Shark commented.

"He was inhibited by a notion that a man does not raise his hand against a woman for any reason." He looked behind Shark to the many women who filled the ranks of OZ. "I suppose I shall have to train that idea out of him."

**Ryou-  
**  
Ryou and Duo stopped suddenly when they saw Anubisu. He was standing with one hand against the wall of a building with his back to them. "Ummm, Anubisu-san... " Ryou started, to get his attention.

"No," Anubisu said sternly, not turning to look at them. He sounded more than a little funny. "Don't say a word, I know what you two want to ask. I don't want to hear it, so don't even think about asking." He took a deep breath as if gathering his strength before turning around.

Ryou's mouth fell open and Duo started to laugh.

"To Hades with asking," Duo giggled. "I think I can guess what happened. Rajura-san's going to pitch a fit when he hears you got taken down by a girl."

One of Anubisu's eyes was blackened and already swelling. "I wouldn't laugh so hard if I was you, Duo. I've got your little boy-toy in my training schedule, you wouldn't want me to take out my aggressions on him, now would you?"

Duo put his hands on his hips and pouted at Anubisu. "You wouldn't do that to poor, sweet, innocent Heero. You know he can't take care of himself without me!"

"Yes, I would." Anubisu passed one hand over his eye and when he took it away from his face, the dark bruise was gone. Rajura's work, of course. He wouldn't permit his family to be mocked, so he'd covered up the bruise. In private, however, Rajura would likely chastise Anubisu for letting his mouth shame the family and for putting himself in a position where he had to defend himself against a woman. "Right." Anubisu straightened his posture. "Let's go, boys."

**Wufei-**

Wufei, though most of his current thoughts were consumed with Nasutei and her well-being, had other concerns as well. First off was family and that seemed to be going rather well at the moment. Auntie Fan was still a little nervous about being in front of all these people, but she had Lai with her and that kept her calm enough. Xiu was happier than Wufei remembered him being for a long time now that he had this mental connection with the four other boys and was in love with two of them.

_Don't think to hard on that_, Wufei told himself, trying to ignore the glances exchanged between the three. _So long as he's happy, I don't have to understand it, I'll just accept it. It's not like he's fallen in with strangers. I've known Touma for ages and Shin... _His mind flashed back to when Shin had almost caused Xiu to drown. _Well, I guess he probably didn't mean to hurt Xiu._

Next came friends. Touma and Quatre were both alive and healthy, though Wufei was still a little worried about Quatre. He was afraid that what Quatre had gone though at the hands of the those doctors was going to come back to haunt them all. _I think I'll insist on some therapy for him. One really can't have one's mind invaded, pillaged and raped without suffering some sort of after affects. Not to mention the physical torture and abuse he'd gone through with those mercenaries._

At that moment, Quatre was watching everything and everyone in silence, standing slightly apart from everyone, even Trowa. That seemed odd to Wufei since the two had grown so close lately. Trowa was another person Wufei had a hard time understanding. He just didn't know why Trowa had gotten involved with the Gundam scientists in the first place. Trowa didn't seem to have any family other than Shin and Shin's sister, he didn't seem to care about any colony in particular, had ambitions or goals he'd ever mentioned. Wufei did his best to shrug his concern about Trowa off. Trowa undoubtedly had his reason, even if he didn't choose to share.

Heero was happy, as happy as Heero ever seemed to get, with Duo. Wufei felt as if he understood Heero the best out of all the other pilots, even Heero's self-inflicted isolation. He understood that Heero didn't want to be hurt, that was why he worked so hard at keeping people at a distance. Duo had broken through Heero's wall of coldness and even coaxed smiles and tiny shows of affection from Heero.

Duo wasn't the only one who had grown attached to Heero. _Maybe there's something about those blue eyes that attracts people._ Wufei thought as he watched Kay step up to Heero's side and say something quietly to him. Heero held out his hand and let her hold it while they watched Rajura speak with the woman, Shark. He'd seen Kay on the battlefield in the Youja Kai and watched her decimated whole platoons of Kenbukyou's inhuman soldiers. It was unnerving to think of that same girl being this shy, sweet kid. _Duo said she's changed since she was kidnapped and no wonder. She should probably have some therapy, too.  
_  
That left Duo to consider.

Actually, despite how different they were, or perhaps because of it, Wufei liked Duo. Duo was friendly, intelligent, and not afraid of anything. However, it was that little issue of a split personality that worried Wufei somewhat. _I'll have a word with Rajura about that. I wonder if he even knows._ He thought before they were all gathered together and introduced to the OZ soldiers.

"Next," Treize was continuing. "This is Naaza and Rajura assures me that he's very handy at first aid, so he'll be teaching emergency medicine."

Naaza looked at Rajura with a puzzled expression. "What's first aid?"

"Making sure people live long enough to get to a real physician," Rajura answered and Naaza nodded, understanding.

The three Ma-Sho were another difficulty for Wufei to think about. He didn't understand them at all, didn't understand the magic that they wielded, and he certainly didn't trust them. Still, they'd done nothing outright evil that he could see so he would let that mystery alone, no matter how he hated that Naaza kept following Nasutei like a puppy.

"Err," Treize looked slightly embarrassed at Naaza's question. "They've been a little out of circulation for a while. I also wanted to inform everyone that I've decided to have a personal bodyguard unit for whenever I travel and Zechs isn't able to come with me. This is Heero, Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei. They're fully trained Gundam pilots, so there's no need to worry about their abilities."

There was a mutter among the gathered soldiers at the word, 'Gundam' until Shark shot them a sharp look over her shoulder and they all came to attention again. That one moment showed Wufei a great deal. He'd never been in an army, but he knew that discipline was one of the biggest necessities in a good soldier. These people seemed to be very loyal and willing to do as Treize told them, but they lacked basic discipline.

Shark looked at the Ma-Sho skeptically. "As you say, sir. Personally, I'd like to try them out and see what they're capable of." She said this with a slight sneer, as if she couldn't quite believe what he was telling her.

"I'm sure they'd oblige you, I won't be leaving for a while, so we've got plenty of time. Now, let's finish with the introductions. Where was I?" Treize looked around the crowd of people he'd brought, trying to remember who hadn't been announced. "Ah, yes. This," He took Wufei's Auntie Fan by the arm and drew her forward so everyone could see her. "Is Mrs. Fan, she's the aunt of Chang Wufei and the mother of Rei Fan Xiu. She's a very nice lady and... "

He was interrupted when little Lai suddenly slipped away from Auntie Fan's hand and dashed back to the plane with her uneven gait. Auntie Fan raced to catch up with Lai, but before she could the two impossibly huge tigers bound out of the airplane. They strolled down the walkway towards the group of people and paused only long enough so Kokuen-Oh could lay down to let Lai climb onto his back. The soldiers, if they were shocked, didn't move. Oh, some of them flinched and there were plenty of gasps to be heard, but no one moved and Wufei had to change his opinion of their discipline.

"As I was saying," Treize continued. "That is Lai, Mrs. Fan's daughter. Obviously, they're both civilians along with Kayura," he paused and looked around. "Where is she?"

"She's right here." Rajura stepped aside to show that Kay still holding Heero's hand. "Don't be shy, dear one." He gave her a little, encouraging push towards Treize and let all the people see her. Then, Rajura announced loudly, "I'll warn you all now, if anyone dares lay hands on my sister, insult her in anyway, or make her cry for any reason, I will hunt you down and kill you after I've driven you insane." He looked around with his one good eye. "Do I make myself clear? Yes? Good." Then he fell silent and let Treize speak again.

"Speaking of sisters," Treize continued. "I think you all know Nasutei, but now. She's visited often enough, hasn't she?"

When Nasutei stepped forward, Wufei couldn't help but notice the looks on the faces of the soldiers. Somehow, Nasty had managed to get the hearts of the soldiers. Every one of them looked at her with something very close to adoration. If they hadn't been at attention, Wufei had no doubt that they'd have given her a round of applauds and he understood why Treize wanted her here. There wasn't a person here who would let Nasuei get hurt.

"And I have good news," Treize said. "My dear sister is expecting the birth of her first child." He said this with a broad smiling, leaving no room for doubts about how he felt about this. Well, if anyone had seen his behavior in his own house, they'd have doubted this, but it seemed that Treize didn't want anyone, even the soldiers, thinking badly of Nasutei.

This time, everyone did break out into cheers and Shark even came forward to give Nasutei a congratulatory handshake.

When the noise had finally died down, Treize spoke again. "Considering this, I wanted her here where she'll be with the people I trust most. You've all heard about the sad departing of our grandfather, I presume?"

There was a general murmur of displeasure.

"Because we still haven't captured the murderer, Nasutei will be staying at least until the blessed event occurs and perhaps longer. These five boys," He gestured to where Xiu and his friends stood. "Ryou, Seiji, Touma, Shin, and Xiu. "Will be her personal guards, so I expect everyone to be accommodating and tell them whatever they need to know. I think that about finishes the introductions. Would you mind showing out guests to the barracks?"

Shark nodded sharply, then turned her attention to her large party of guests. "We're a small base, here. There isn't anything fancy. Two bunk-beds to a room, which means four people sharking each room. We'll keep the ladies together, I think." She gestured towards Mama Fan and little Lai. "You two with Nasutei-sama and the young lady." She gave shy Kay a gentle smile. "The rest of you can divide up how you please. I'll warn you, it's nothing fancy. The rooms are only big enough for the beds, a table and a couple of chairs. There isn't anything else."

Rajura nodded. "I thank you for your kindness in hosting us, but I think we will make our own arrangements. I would be more comfortable if Kayura and Duo roomed together with two of us. Family should stay together, after all. Ryou, you may stay with Seiji and your friends."

Duo shouted, "Hey! I want to sleep with Heero!" He didn't seem to care that several soldiers' eyes widened at that announcement.

He and Ryou came strolling out from around the building with Anubisu walking nonchalantly behind them. Though Wufei had no idea what had happened between the Ma-Sho and Shark, he was pretty sure that Anubisu had gotten the short end of the stick of whatever had happened.

As if nothing had happened, though everyone watched him curiously, Anubisu went to Shark and held himself proudly. "Adequate." He sniffed down at her before going to stand next to Naaza.

Duo, obvious to all this with his mind still on the sleeping arrangements, went to hang off Heero's arm while he looked at Rajura with pleading eyes. "'Jura-san, please, I want to share with Heero. Pleeeeeeaaaaasssseeeee." The whine in Duo's voice made Rajura flinch, but he didn't change his mind. It was hard to believe that this was the same Duo who had so eagerly helped 'punish' Septum.

"No," Rajura said, firmly. "I don't want you two... " He flushed deep red when he realized they were still in public. "We'll discuss this later."

Duo got a determined look in his eyes. "We can discuss it now. You're letting Seiji and Ryou sleep together, why not me and Heero?"

Noin grabbed Rajura's arm and pulled him around to look at her and snarled at him, "You'd better not be letting them sleep together! They're only fifteen, they're not old enough!"

Rajura didn't immediately deny this charge and Noin turned red with anger.

"Excuse me," Treize interrupted as politely as he could. "I'm sure everyone here has better things to do than just stand around. Shark, if you will?"

Shark nodded sharply. "Yes, sir. Dismissed!" She hollered at the top of her lungs, signaling everyone to go back to whatever they'd been doing before Treize arrived. Several people lingered to see what was going on, but Shark's glare sent them on their way. When Shark looked back at her guests, her face had softened slightly, but not much. "Shall I show you to your rooms?"

"I need to get to work, actually," Zechs said smoothly. "I'll see you all later." He headed away to do whatever it was that he did on base with Treize following closely. "You don't have to come."

"What else do I have to do?" Treize answered. "I'm not much more than moral support for my troops. You, Noin, and Shark do all the hard work." His voice faded as he walked away.

"Well?" Shark asked, looking around the remaining group. "What about the rest of you?"

"Actually," Xiu spoke up, putting a hand to his stomach. "I'm kinda hungry. Could we get a bite to eat somewhere?"

At that comment, both Wufei and Auntie Fan laughed. Wufei knew his cousin's eating habits very well, after living with him for so long and this wasn't unexpected.

Auntie Fan put her hand on Byakuen's head. "Growing boys are always hungry." She gave Xiu an indulgent look. "You can wait until we've seen where we'll be staying. Miss Shark, if you'll lead the way?"

"Actually," Shark said, sounding slightly awkward. "It's just Shark."

"Yes, yes, dear. Now, let's get going, shall we?" Mama Fan turned to look at everyone behind her. "No sense in dawdling. Let's - " She stopped speaking, abruptly and frowned at Naaza. "Are you feeling alright?"

Her concern made Wufei look closer at Naaza, also, and he saw what worried his Auntie. Naaza's naturally green skin looked very dry and he'd been scratching at himself for quite a while. It wasn't anything terrible, but there were faint reddish marks that showed where he'd been scratching on his face and forearms.

Obviously surprised that anyone had noticed, Naaza quickly said, "I'm fine." And made it clear by his tone that the subject wasn't to be mentioned again. He looked at Shark. "If the children are hungry, let them eat. We are more than capable of finding one another, again. Send one of your bootlickers to fetch food for the children."

Shark raised an eyebrow. "My bootlickers have better things to do than play servants for you. However," she looked over her shoulder and barked out a name. When the young woman, a skinny, freckled girl, ran over Shark told her to take them to the mess hall and to make sure no one became lost.

"Actually," Wufei spoke up. "We need to see to our Gundams If you haven't any place for us to store them, we can set them out of the way."

Shark shook her head. "We've a fine hanger with plenty of space." She summoned another passing soldier to show them the way before leading her remaining guests away.

**Rajura-  
**

Shark showed them all to a hallway with empty rooms and told them that they were free to pick and chose, though she did expect to be informed about who would be guardian and responsible for the minor children now running around her base.

"I'm for my children; Lai, Xiu, and Wufei," Mama Fan said.

"And me," Rajura added. "I am responsible for the rest."

Shark nodded. "I'll know who to speak to when they start causing trouble, then. If you'll excuse me. I have some work to see to."

Rajura waited until they could no longer hear the sound of Shark's footsteps on the floor before he put a hand on Duo's shoulder. "Naaza, see that everyone gets comfortable. You two," he looked down at Noin and Duo. "I'd like to speak with you both, alone." He picked a room at random and, once the three of them were inside, closed the door behind them. "This information is not for the ears of others as it is potentially dangerous to all of us. I haven't yet seen enough of this world to know how mortals will react to us but," he focused entirely on Noin. "You are far too involved to not be left ignorant." He stepped away from them, arranging his thoughts before he spoke. The room was bare of everything but, as Shark had told them, a bed, a table, and bureau. There were no windows, no decorations, and no color other than white except the steel headboard of the bed. "Duo, you have more growing to do. You are still a child, whether you like it or not." Rajura sat on the narrow bed in the small room. It was just like Shark had described earlier and barely fit Rajura, Duo, and Noin. As it was, Duo sat on the bed next to Rajura while Noin stood, leaning against the wall. "You still have a child's body and it's not proper for you to... er... engage in... um... well... sexual activities. Just wait a little while and let yourself grow up."

"Then why aren't you making Ryou wait?" Duo demanded angrily. "We're the same age and... "

"You are both fifteen now," Rajura agreed. "But next year, you will be sixteen. Ryou will still be fifteen."

Duo frowned. "What are you talking about? I thought it was the Youja Kai that kept you from aging. We don't live there anymore, so it shouldn't affect us anymore."

"You forget - you, Ryou, and Kay grew up in the Youja Kai. If your theory was right, none of you should have grown any older than the age you first came to the Youja Kai." Rajura shook his head, sadly. "It would be simpler for us all if it were the Youja Kai that made us ageless. We could just walk away from it. But we can't. It's not the Youja Kai - it's us." He gave Duo a penetrating look. "Do you understand? I have been twenty-one-years -ld for more years than I want to remember. I will never grow any older."

Noin's mind went numb for just a second when she realized what Rajura was saying. "Seiji…"

Rajura looked at her sadly and didn't try to shield her from the awful truth. "Seiji will never grow old. His mind will grow and mature, but not his body."

Putting a hand to her forehead, Noin felt like she would faint, but forced herself not to. Her stomach churned wildly. "This shouldn't be a surprise, but… but he's my brother. I just wanted to have him home with me. I just wanted to keep him safe. I can't reach him. He's too far away." Noin's eyes burned and she at once covered her face with her hands. If she had to cry, she certainly didn't want anyone seeing.

Dimly, Noin heard Rajura tell a still stunned Duo, "Go talk to Ryou." The door opened and closed quietly, without a word from Duo.

Noin still didn't look at Rajura. It was all too much. "No matter what I do, I'll never be able to be close with Seiji." She couldn't hold back the tears, then, and felt them against her palms.

Rajura's slender hands took her by the arms and led her a few feet. "Sit."

She did so without thinking and found herself on the bed. "He's so different!" She painfully choked out the words. "I'm going to lose him, again! I just got him back and I'm going to lose him and I don't even understand any of this! I don't understand him!" She felt as if her heart had broken. The pain was as real as if she'd broken a bone or been hit in the face. An agonizing, deep pain that burned her. It wasn't fair. She just wanted her baby brother.

Rajura held her tightly and whispered comfortingly, but it didn't help and Noin broke down into helpless sobs, leaning into Rajura's chest. "I wish I could help you." Rajura whispered. "I wish there was something I could do to ease your heart."

Just at that moment, Seiji threw the door open and fixed Noin with a cool eye. "Duo said you needed me, Luc."

Noin, startled by his sudden appearance, looked up at him with eyes still red and puffy from crying.

Rajura stood up and left the room, silently.

Noin wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "It's alright. Everythin'gs fine. I was just talking with Rajura and I learned a few things that sort of… caught me by surprise."

"You are crying. Duo told me. Because of me? Have I hurt you?" His one visible eye was full of confusion and hurt.

"No, no, it's just... it's been a long day and... "

Apparently, Noin wasn't very good at lying, as Seiji didn't seem to believe her. He came to sit next to her on the bed, in the spot Rajura had abandoned. Seiji opened his mouth, as if he would speak, and then closed it again. "I do not have words for what I wish to say." Seiji said after another long silence. He sounded frustrated and Noin was amazed to hear that much emotion in his voice. At least it was an emotion.

Noin, in a way, wanted to tell Seiji that she was fine and that he should go back to his friends. She knew he was happiest when he was with them and she wanted him to be happy. But... she had to know. She had to know what had made Seiji the way he was and she wanted to know if he could trust her enough to tell her. Slowly, Noin reached for the blonde hair that covered Seiji's damaged face.

Seiji jerked away slightly, but slowly relaxed and let Noin touch his hair.

With the tips of her fingers, Noin could feel the scars hidden by Seiji's golden hair. Noin wanted to grab Seiji and hold him to her as tightly as possible, to keep him from drifting any further away.

"He had us raped," Seiji said abruptly and Noin's hand froze in his hair.

"What?"

"Doctor J. He allowed his soldiers to rape us when he believed we were not performing up to top capacity. When Heero was raped for the first time, I tried to defend him. Doctor J used an electronic prod on my face until I passed out. When I woke up, Heero was taking care of me and I couldn't see out of this eye." Seiji lifted his hand to his blinded eye. "Doctor J allowed my eye to heal without treatment. He said I wasn't worth the expense of repairing. I was only the back-up and clearly inferior to Heero. I believe Doctor J kept me after that as spare parts."

Noin's mouth had gone dry very quickly. "What?"

"In case Heero need something replaced. I believe they would have used me for organ transplants, skin graphs, and blood transfusions. Anything that Heero might need to repair an injury could be gotten from me and there would be no need to search for a donor." Seiji looked down at his lap. "If you want to know, if it makes you happy, I'll tell you."

Noin nodded.

"He caught me after school, I think. He was in a white car and I was... so scared. I'd never seen a man like him before. He was half a machine, at least that was what he looked like. I tried to get away, I tried to fight, but he was very strong." Seiji didn't look away from Noin as he spoke, but he sounded as if he wanted to. "I was too weak and he took me. When I woke, later, he, or someone, had taken my clothes and my school bag. They made me wear a one piece sort of jumpsuit and I was given a kind of nutritious paste to eat. It was healthy, if nothing else. I remember being so scared, for such a long time." Seiji choked at that point, and Noin realized the emotions were getting to be to much for him. While he was speaking, Seiji must have been remembering everything that had happened. "I thought, all the time, daddy will rescue me. Daddy and mommy will come soon. I thought about you, too, Luc. I wished I could dance with you in the garden, again."

Noin didn't try to restrain herself when she leaned forward and hugged Seiji. She had to do something, anything to let him know he was safe. Even if he was more powerful than she could imagine, even if he wasn't quite human, he was still a baby in her eyes. "Sei-chan, I'm so sorry." Noin pulled him close and held him. Noin held him close enough that she could smell the shampoo he'd used on his hair that morning. "Promise me, Sei-chan." Noin whispered. "Promise you won't ever keep a secret like that again."

"I didn't want to make you cry." Seiji's voice returned to its normal coolness, though he didn't try to pull away from her.

"It hurts me when you're hurt," Noin told him. "But it hurts more to know you would rather keep secrets from me. Rajura told me you're going to live for a very long time, so I won't always be with you. Right now, I want to know everything that goes on in your life. Don't hide things from me, Seiji, please."

Seiji pulled away slightly, though he kept one arm around Noin's waist. "Luc, do you want to know it all?" It was a very serious question and Noin had to think about it for a minute, studying Seiji's grim face. She knew he meant that he would tell her everything, every detail of his years of abuse, his pain and loneliness. She wasn't sure she could bear it.

"Yes." Noin steeled herself. "Tell me everything. I want to understand you."

Seiji nodded and slid himself off the bed and onto the floor where he folded his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. "Doctor J was not a good man," Seiji started out. "But I would have rather faced him than the Dark Room. It was black, completely dark and I would be put in there if I misbehaved." He shuddered at the memory before continuing his history.

**Anubisu-**

Anubisu and Rajura listened outside the door while Seiji spoke and as they listened to the story unfold, Anubisu felt himself becoming as angry as Noin must have. That a mortal man should do such damage to children…

EVEN WE WOULDN'T DO SUCH THINGS TO CHILDREN. Anubisu mentally told Rajura.

NO. BUT WHOEVER SAID MONSTERS COULDN'T LURK IN HUMAN GUISE? Rajura stood up and stepped away from the door. WE CAN LEAVE THEM, NOW. I BELIEVE THEY'LL WORK THINGS OUT WITHOUT US. SEIJI COULD HAVE FUNCTIONED WELL WITHOUT TELLING NOIN, BUT I BELIEVE HE WILL BE HAPPIER AFTER THIS. Then Rajura smiled at Anubisu and snaked his arm around Anubisu's waist. NOIN, TOO. I DIDN'T THINK SHE WOULD REACT THAT BADLY.

YOU MAY THANK DUO FOR FETCHING SEIJI. Anubisu pulled Rajura to his side and kissed his temple. WHAT DID HE SAY WHEN HE FOUND OUT RYOU WOULD NEVER GROW UP?

NOTHING. I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE TOLD HIM SOONER. THIS WASN'T THE BEST WAY FOR HIM TO FIND OUT. I'LL HAVE TO GO HAVE A WORD WITH HIM IN A BIT. Rajura's low mood was easily shown through their link. IT MUST SEEM VERY UNFAIR THAT I ALLOW RYOU AND SEIJI HAVE A RELATIONSHIP BUT FORBID HIM AND HEERO FROM DOING THE SAME.

Anubisu snorted at the absurdity of that thought. RAJURA, HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?! ALLOW? FORBID? DO YOU REALLY THINK YOU'LL BE ABLE TO STOP OUR DUO FROM DOING EXACTLY WHAT HE PLEASES? Anubisu laughed as he said this, though he knew Rajura wouldn't find it funny. WHEN HE FIRST CAME TO LIVE WITH US, YOU TOLD HIM TO STAY AWAY FROM THE DEMON HORSES. WHAT HAPPENED? THE NEXT DAY HE BROKE HIS ARM TRYING TO RIDE ONE. THEN THE STUBBORN BOY, STILL HEALING, MANAGED TO BREAK HIS OTHER ARM TRYING TO RIDE THE SAME BEAST. DUO IS STUBBORN, WILLFUL, AND COINCIDED. HE'S ALSO VERY SMART AND SUPRISINGLY WISE. YOU KNOW HE WOULDN'T DO ANYTHING TO HURT HEERO AND HE WOULDN'T CHOSE A LOVER WHO WOULD HURT HIM.

THEY'RE ONLY CHILDREN! Rajura protested. I DON'T SEE WHY THEY CAN'T WAIT A COUPLE OF YEARS UNTIL THEY'RE A LITTLE OLDER.

I EXPECT THEY WILL. DESPITE WHAT YOU MIGHT THINK, DUO DOES RESPECT YOU. HE WON'T LIKE IT, BUT SOMETHING THIS IMPORTANT - AND HE DOES KNOW THAT IT'S IMPORTANT - HE'LL OBEY.

AND WHAT ABOUT HEERO? HE'S JUST AS TRAUMATIZED AS SEIJI IS, BUT HE ISN'T LINKED WITH ANYONE TO SHOW HIM HOW NORMAL RELATIONSHIPS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE OR FEEL. RYOU AND SEIJI CAN COMPLETELY TRUST EACH OTHER BECAUSE OF THE LINK. DUO AND HEERO WILL NEVER HAVE THAT KIND OF TRUST.

YOU WORRY TOO MUCH. Anubisu told him. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, HUMANS DON'T REQUIRE A PSYCHIC LINK IN ORDER FOR THEIR RELATIONSHIPS TO WORK. IT MIGHT TAKE THEM A LITTLE LONGER THAN NORMAL, BUT I'M SURE DUO AND HEERO WILL BE JUST FINE. Together, with their arms still around each other, unselfconsciously, Rajura and Anubisu set off down the hallway. SO, Anubisu said. HAVE YOU SEEN THE ROOM WE'VE BEEN ASSIGNED? NO CHARACTER AT ALL!

YES. Rajura smiled proudly. I THINK YOU'LL LIKE WHAT I'VE GOT PLANNED FOR IT. QUITE NICE, EVEN IF I DO SAY SO MYSELF.

**Duo-**

Duo ran down the halls of the OZ base, darting passed uniformed soldiers as he looked for Ryou as he was told to. He wasn't stupid, though, and knew why Rajura had sent him looking for Ryou. If he found Ryou, Duo would inevitably find Seiji.

At least Duo couldn't say he was confused about why Rajura was allowing Ryou and Seiji being together. If they waited until they grew up to have sex, they'd wait forever. Duo wasn't sure this whole eternal youth thing was entirely a good thing. Ryou would never be old enough to get his driver's license, go in a club, or own his own house. He'd be dependent on other people for everything, even a place to live.

Duo found Ryou in the mess, sitting with his friends. It was a room as big as an auditorium with dozens of long rows of tables. There were other people but the group where Ryou sat was the biggest and Duo made a bee-line for it, increasing his speed when he saw Seiji was standing just behind Ryou, completely silent.

"Seiji!" Duo called out before he reached the table. "Seiji, your sister needs you!"

Instantly, Seiji turned to Duo, his eye slightly narrowed. "Where?"

"Down this corridor, fifth door on the left." Duo had barely time to get it out before Seiji tore off at top speed the way Duo had just come.

"What's that all about?" Ryou asked, looking up at Duo.

Duo didn't answer, but threw his arms around Ryou.

"Duo?" Ryou asked, patting Duo on the back. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just… nothing." Had Rajura told Ryou? No. Ryou would have said something to Duo. "It's just," Duo pulled away to look at Ryou's face and imagined, one day, Ryou being bored with living with people who got old or angry that he couldn't have what Duo would have in life. He imagined Ryou leaving and never returning and it frightened him more than anything else ever had. "No matter what happens, don't leave without saying something, alright? You can't leave me behind!"

Ryou was frowning, but shrugged good-naturedly. "Of course I wouldn't. We're brother's, aren't we? We belong together."

Duo smiled back, assured that Ryou wouldn't break his promise, and moved to sit beside him at the table. "You know," Duo said, sitting next to Ryou on one of the benches of the table. "This is the strangest family. Now we've got," Duo did a quick mental count. "We've got twelve brothers, if you count everyone who isn't related by blood, four of whom are more like parents than brothers, three sisters, since Xiu and Seiji are our brothers Lai and Noin are our sisters, too. Two tigers, two mama's, if you count Mama Fan as well as Mama Sh'ten. Two dads, if you count Rashid and Abdul since they're Touma's dads, I think." When Duo stopped talking for breath, he found everyone staring at him.

"You're right," Touma grinned at Ryou. "He does have amazing lung capacity. I don't think I've ever heard anyone talk that much except Kitty when he's on a sugar high."

Duo smiled pleasantly at Touma. Now that everything seemed to have settled down and, from what Treize told them, they were in one of the most secure places on Earth, maybe they'd get a chance to really get to know each other. "So," Duo asked. "What were you all talking about?"

Ryou opened his mouth to answer, when he stopped and got a far away look in his eyes. Duo looked around at the others and found that Ryou's three other friends had the same distracted look for just a moment before it passed and they acted like nothing happened.

"What's wrong?" Duo asked.

"Seiji's a little upset. We're trying to give them some privacy, so we blocked our minds." Shin answered.

"How do you know?" Duo asked.

Ryou shrugged. "We just do."

Shin continued, "Anyway, to answer your question, we were discussing what we're going to be doing now. Treize has done us a great favor by giving us jobs where we can all stay together. He's been very generous by letting our families come, too. Now that we're going to be protecting Nasty, we just have to figure out this bodyguard thing." Shin gave a short chuckle. "Ryou's been trained to be a warrior, so he'll have no problem, like Seiji. I'm not sure about Shin and Xiu, though."

Xiu said boastfully, "I don't think we're going to have any problems at all. First off, Nasty's hardly ever going to be leaving this place and everyone here adores her. Second, we've got these new powers. Third, Naaza and Wufei are also keeping a close eye on her. I say we'll do just fine."

"We're going to have to come up with some kind of schedule." Touma said sensibly. "She won't need all of us all the time so, I say just one of us at a time should be with her. Wufei will probably be with her at night," He blushed slightly when he said that, but continued. "So we won't have to worry about that. Plus, Shin and Xiu are going to have to go through Rajura's formal training."

Shin frowned. "What about you?"

"Abdul and Rashid trained me along with Kitty. I'm pretty much a fully trained guerrilla soldier." Touma answered in a matter-a-fact voice. "Rajura wants me to go though the training, too, but he says I won't need it so much as you, too."

Shin blinked at Xiu. "I feel vaguely insulted for some reason."

At that time, the doors of the mess hall slid open to reveal Quatre, followed closely by Trowa, Wufei, and Heero. Quatre strode over to them with that easy, confidant gait of his, all the while smiling like a cat who'd caught a canary. "Duo," Quatre said brightly. "We've been looking for you." He gestured as he spoke to Trowa and Wufei (who had stopped walking when Quatre had, as if to present a united front) and Heero, who had moved to stand beside Duo.

"Well, you found me," Duo replied, just as brightly. "What can I do for you?"

"We have a surprise for you, Duo." Quatre looked at Touma. "Do you know why Rashid and Abdul didn't come immediately for you when we sort of moved into Treize's home?"

Touma shrugged. "They were off Earth, remember? I wrote to you."

"Yes. I remember. Did they tell you what they found?"

"Found?" Touma's forehead creased as deeply as a ravine. "They didn't say anything. They were pretty upset when they caught up with me."

Quatre's pleased expression only deepened. "A base. Buried in a moon on the far edge of the solar system, they found a base hidden by one of those…" his voice faltered a moment. "Doctors. It's wonderful, Duo. I had suspicions that there might be another one, but no real proof until I got the message from Rashid." Quatre put a hand on Duo's shoulder. "I think you'll like it."

"Like what?" Duo asked, now completely lost in the conversation, but happy to play along as it was making his friend happy. "What are you talking about?"

Quatre took Duo's arm and started to pull him away from the table, towards the door. "You have to come and see. It's a surprise, but if I know you like I think I do, you'll love it! It's really amazing."

Duo let himself be led away only because Heero seemed to be in on whatever joke so amused Quatre. Duo had no doubt, at that point, that it was a joke and that he was to be the butt of it. He didn't mind. Everyone seemed happy and like as not, he would end up laughing with the rest. Quatre wasn't the cruel type, after all, and his jokes could only be kindly meant. "Heero," Duo grinned, even as he was pulled towards the open door by Quatre. "Is that a smile I see peeking out? No, no, can't it be? A real smile?"

Without bothering to hide his tiny, almost nonexistent, smile, Heero quietly said, "Quatre's right. You'll like this."

At the door, Duo heard the other boys starting to follow them, and glanced over his shoulder to find Ryou and the others trailing curiously behind.

Just as Wufei drew close enough to trigger the sensor that automatically opened the door a young woman, no more than twenty-three, stepped into sight. She wasn't dressed as a soldier, but rather in plain jeans and an oversized shirt that looked as if it had seen better days. Her hair was very curly and her face very pretty in a girl-next-door kind of look, despite her unhappy expression. She stopped when she saw them and put both hands on her hips. "Mouri Shin!" She shouted, her eyes falling on her target. "Did you think you'd get away from me?!"

Shin gave a little yelp, but recovered quickly with a strained smile. "C-cathy? Ummm... hi. I didn't expect you here so soon."

"Well, surprise!" She snapped, throwing her hands up above her head. The young woman turned to look at Trowa. Her glare didn't soften, even when he lowered his face, humbly. "Trowa Barton, don't you think you're getting away! I've got a word or two for you when I'm done with Shin!"

"Yes, Catherine," Trowa answered obediently, accepting the fate he couldn't escape before the four pilots led Duo away.

When they left, Duo just barely heard the girl, Catherine, yelling at Shin. "What do you think you were doing? Joining an army? You could get killed! And you never sent word that you're all right. I was worried sick!" Her voice died when the door closed behind Duo and Duo was suddenly very glad that he wasn't in Shin's shoes.

**Quatre-**

Once in the hanger, where the Gundams had been housed along with the OZ mobile suits, they found the four Gundams which they'd told Duo were named Wing, Heavy Arms, Sand Rock, and Shen Long. At the end of the line of Gundams was an unfamiliar one. Unlike the others, it was as black as pitch and Duo was stunned into silence as he looked at it.

Duo, seeming to forget his beaming friends, stared up at the ink black Gundam with his mouth hanging open. Absolutely silently and with slow, deliberate steps, Duo walked around the Gundam, as if he was trying to take in every inch of the magnificent machine at once.

Quatre watched Duo with no small pleasure. He'd known for a good long while that Rashid had found the Gundam designated 02, but he'd kept the discovery to himself and gave the order for the Gundam to be transported to the OZ base only a short while after the decision had been made that they would be going there. Of course, Rashid had followed orders, though it wasn't without question. He was wary of joining forces with any organization connected with the Alliance and it had taken a good deal of persuading for Quatre to get him to agree. Treize was pleased to have the Gundams at his base and had taken very little coaxing to keep silent about the surprise.

"Quatre," Wufei said in a hushed voice, dragging Quatre out of his thoughts. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Why not? True, he has no training, but that can be remedied. Have you any reason for thinking he wouldn't do well?" Quatre gave no indications of his own misgivings. That Duo would be a splendid pilot, Quatre had no doubt. It was the fact that he didn't know how he knew Duo would be a great pilot that worried him. Almost absently, Quatre began to walk closer to the massive black Gundam.

"I think I should tell you something." Wufei followed after Quatre, but looked at Duo who was now smiling openly like a child who'd just gotten a new birthday present. "I think he has a split personality."

"Really?" Quatre looked at Duo as if seeing him in a new light. "May I ask what his alternate personality did, exactly?"

Wufei told Quatre what Duo had done to help with Septum's punishment, in detail. If he was expecting Quatre to be revolted, he was sorely disappointed by the reaction his news inspired in Quatre.

"So, he's a sadistic maniac who delights in torture? Hrumph. You'd never know it to look at him." Then Quatre's bright smile returned. "I think he'll be an interesting addition to the team."

"I think you may be as insane as he is," Wufei grumbled. "What if he decides to turn on us? His other self wasn't what one might call trustworthy, in my opinion."

"Oh, I don't think we're in any danger. He didn't try to hurt you, only to do what he thought was necessary to punish Septum. Besides, if we're going to help Treize bring down the Alliance and the Romafella Foundation, we're going to need all the help we can get - even if that help is quite mad."

From where he stood at the feet of the colossus, Duo shouted, "This is great! You gave me a scythe and everything, Quatre! Where did you get this thing? What's it called? Your Gundam's have names."

"I thought you'd like it. As for the name," Quatre paused as he put his hand against the Gundam and his mind suddenly opened as a very familiar voice spoke to him. (Deathscythe.) Quatre snapped his hand away from the Gundam, as if the contact burned him. "Deathscythe." Quatre said automatically. That voice... he knew that voice. A heavy feeling grew in Quatre's stomach as he hoped it was only his imagination he'd been hearing and not the voice of Zero.

Duo's grin broadened. "Deathscythe." He said as if he were tasting a word dipped in honey. "I LIKE it! Oh! Oh! This is great!" Duo put both hands on the black metal shell of the Gundam and closed his eyes momentarily, though it was long enough that Quatre was half afraid Duo was hearing the same voice that had been speaking to Quatre ever since he'd been touched by the Zero program. "When can I fly it?" Duo asked abruptly, silencing Quatre's fears about Duo hearing Zero.

"It'll take time," Quatre warned him. "I've spoke to Noin and, since she's the instructor for the pilots, she said she'd train you in her class. It starts tomorrow, so you're in luck."

**Later-**

It was late when Quatre finally had a chance to lay down and rest. When they'd all gotten together to discuss sleeping arrangements, it was decided that, to save room, Quatre would stay with Rashid and his fighters in their camp outside the base. Trowa had quietly, but firmly, imposed himself on Rashid's hospitality, also. It left Wufei rooming with Heero, Seiji, and Xiu. Rajura, the self-proclaimed den-mother, took up residence with Kayura, Duo, and Anubisu while Naaza and Ryou shared a room Shin and Touma. It was practical, but left little room for privacy. It didn't matter. That only meant that they would have to be creative.

Rajura could have created an entire house for them all, he'd said, but it wouldn't have lasted long. "I have great stamina with my illusions," he'd told them, apologetically. "But even I can't maintain it forever. Better to accept reality, for the moment." He'd asked, when planning out the arrangements, if Nasutei would insist on sharing a room with Wufei and had been immediately rebuffed with a few sharp words from both Nasutei and Wufei.

Wufei told him, firmly, "We're not married! It certainly wouldn't be proper to live together."

Quatre lay on the blankets spread on the ground, quite comfortable in the large tents that were customarily used by Rashid's fighters. The fact that Rashid and Abdul had lived in a house when Quatre and Touma had been young was only due to the fact that they were being paid by Quatre's father to take care of Quatre and he hadn't considered a tent good enough. He rolled onto his side and caught sight of Trowa's shadowed profile on the other side of the tent. Though Trowa had readily agreed to sharing a tent, when it had came time to get to bed, Trowa had gone right to sleep, not caring that Quatre had made sure to wear almost nothing. Quatre found it quite disappointing, really. He'd been expecting a night of unbridled passion and Trowa just lay there sleeping.

(You need to find a computer.) The voice of Zero spoke to Quatre, not for the first time that night.

"It's nighttime," Quatre argued softly, so he wouldn't wake Trowa. "I'm not going anywhere." Though he tried to stay calm, Quatre had gone cold at the voice. "I thought you were gone. Where'd you come from?"

(We are always together, Quatre. That is my program. Do not be afraid, I will take care of you. Now we must find a computer. We need to know as much about this operation as possible.) Zero told him. (The computer system should be able to find blue prints for this base and a list of all personal to analyze at a later time.)

"I'm tired. Don't you ever go to sleep or something?" Quatre hated what he couldn't control and he could see no way to control Zero.

(No, Quatre. You sleep, I continue to operate while your body rests. We need this information, Quatre. I will not allow you to be hurt.)

"Hurt?" Quatre hissed, suddenly angry as he remembered the brief time when Zero had taken over Quatre's mind and body. "You possessed me and made me kill people! I almost killed Noin because of you!"

(That was before. Noin was a threat to our safety. She is no longer a threat now that she believes that you are separated from me. We must keep her, and everyone else, believing that. I will not let us be hurt.)

The feeling of fear grew in Quatre's gut. So... there was a possibility that he would turn on his friends again. What if, this time, it was Trowa or Touma he hurt? What if he killed them?

(I will not allow anyone to hurt us or try to separate us, Quatre.) Zero said, as if in answer to Quatre's fear. (Whether you believe they are your friends or not, I will defend us. You must get up now, Quatre. We must find a computer. You know I am correct. Knowledge is power and power is safety.)

After another few moments of thinking, Quatre did stand up and get dressed. He managed to get up without waking Trowa and headed out of tent and started towards the base. It shouldn't be hard to find a computer here.

**Trowa-**

Trowa opened his eyes after the tent flap, fell closed behind Quatre, but he made no move to follow Quatre for a moment. He hadn't really gone to sleep, just closed his eyes the moment he'd crawled into the tent he was sharing with Quatre. At first, he'd expected Quatre to take advantage of him, like so many other people had over the years, but Quatre hadn't even laid a finger on him.

Perhaps it had been a bad dream that had driven Quatre out of the tent. That didn't explain talking to himself. He could still be asleep, Trowa reasoned. Perhaps he was sleeping walking. If that was so, then he could hurt himself.

Trowa hurriedly got up and dressed and followed Quatre at a respectable distance. He'd heard that if a sleepwalker was woken too harshly that it could be bad for them. So he kept quiet as they walked around the base. It was quiet, staffed only with a skeleton crew to keep things running, and as they were guests Trowa had no trouble as he made his way through the halls, slowing gaining up with Quatre until Quatre entered a room that seemed to be for communications.  
**  
Quatre-**

"All right," Quatre said, looking around the empty communications office. "I found you a computer, now what? I don't know if we have time to figure out the password and I somehow doubt Treize would just tell me."

(Passwords are not needed.) Zero told him. (Put us in physical contact with the computer.) Quatre reached out for the keyboard of the computer when Zero stopped him. (No. That is unnecessary. Physical contact with the memory storage device of this computer will be more effective.) So Quatre touched the tower where all of the computer's memory and information was stored. Instantly, Quatre felt himself fade out of control.

Zero was, once again, in control.

In his mind, Quatre saw images racing by. Images and words that flew by so fast he couldn't figure out what they were along with the now familiar binary language of combinations of zero's and one's. Quatre didn't know how long they stayed like that, frozen with his hand on the tower of the computer and Zero studying the information he got from the computer at a rate no human could ever match.

"Quatre?" A hand landed on Quatre's shoulder and he felt himself abruptly in control again. It was Trowa, standing just behind Quatre, looking concerned. "Are you alright?"

"Huh?" Quatre blinked and pulled his hand away from the computer. "Yes. Yes, I'm fine. Ummm," He tried to think of a reason why he'd be out here at this time of night, but couldn't think of a believable one.

"Were you sleepwalking?" Trowa asked.

"Yes." Quatre was privately relieved that Trowa had thought of the excuse for him. "Yes, I'm sure I was. Where are we?" It was best to play stupid for now. If Trowa found out that Quatre was still in contact with Zero, Zero might decide that Trowa was a threat. Quatre couldn't allow that.

"A communications' station." Trowa took Quatre's arm gently. "Let's go back."

"Yes." Even as Quatre let himself be led away, he reveled in the feeling of Trowa's strong hand on his arm. Zero was equally happy, Quatre knew, because it had gotten whatever information it had been looking for.

**Dorothy-**

Dorothy knew Treize had gone to his OZ base in Nigeria, she just wasn't sure what she should do about it. She knew that Nasty and / or the baby Nasty was carrying had to die. It shouldn't have taken more than the death of grandfather Yagiyu to set Treize off and Dorothy suspected that it was Nasty herself who'd kept him from launching the war Dorothy was desperately hoping for. Really, she hadn't planned on killing Nasty, but if Treize wasn't going to react the way Dorothy wanted him to, what else was she to do?

She had a few options which she pondered. First, she could hire mercenaries to do the dirty work. She pushed that thought aside as the danger of discovery was too great. How could she be certain that mercenaries could get into the base of the Alliance's most vaunted soldiers undiscovered, let along kill anyone without getting caught? Not that she cared for their fate, but didn't want them to give any hints at who'd hired them. On the other hand, Dorothy had heard rumors that said it was all a ruse. Rumor said that OZ was just a dumping ground for the washouts that had wanted to join the Alliance. If that was the case, then Dorothy could safely take the risk. That uncertainty made the decision difficult and Dorothy, torn between using the mercenaries and finding a more troublesome solution, tapped her fingernails against the glass window of her dorm room.

"Why not go to him and just kill him?"

Dorothy didn't look up at the speaker; she wasn't overly fond of him. "Because his death would make him a martyr." Dorothy answered Saranbo. He was a demon, like Badamon, but less intelligent, at least in Dorothy's opinion. Saranbo had told her that he'd suffered a loss in a war in the demon world when his army was crushed by people who now helped Treize and he was more than eager to go to the OZ base so he could try to get the revenge he craved. "I want a war, a grand, glorious war."

"All war is glorious, but there is glory in any death."

"A single death is meaningless," Dorothy replied. "It must be something to grab the world's attention and hold it. Hold it and make the world grieve for what has happened. For that, every family on Earth must lost at least one loved one to this war. Everyone must mourn."

"An impressive objective," Saranbo said, appreciatively. "But a more personal touch might be what you need to accomplish this." The demon put a hand on Dorothy's shoulder. "Let me take you to your enemy and we will find his weakness."

"I know his weakness, it's Nasutei." Dorothy shrugged off his hand. "She has to be hurt and then he'll do something. I just have to get to her without anyone finding out it was me. Treize must think the Alliance is responsible or he'll never start the war."

"That will be difficult." Badamon appeared suddenly, in the center of the room. "Your enemy is guarded, well-guarded, by the Ma-Sho and those who bear the elemental yoroi. She will be hard to find unprotected."

"We will have to go to the OZ base, I suppose," Dorothy said. "I don't dare leave this to a some hired hand. I will start this war. If it's the last thing I ever do, I will do this."

**To be continued... **


	41. Tauragi Village

**Chapter 41: Tauragi Village**

Victoria Lake-  
Abdul-

Outside the base at Victoria Lake a small village of tents had been set up and the men of the Maganac army made themselves at home. They soldiers didn't mind not being on the base and, in fact, preferred to have their own small domain. Not one of them had any desire to be a part of Treize's army, nor did they try to socialize with the uniformed soldiers. Rashid had spoken privately with the base's commander as well as with Treize to ensure that there wouldn't be any misunderstandings between the two groups, but considering the past encounters the Maganacs had had with the Alliance military, there was bound to be some mistrust and it had been decided that they would keep apart, but close enough in case the boys needed them.

It was that 'in case' that worried Abdul.

He stood at the edge of their little tent village with his hands on his hips and his sunglasses pushed far up on his nose so he could watch the flying spectacle without the distraction of the sun.

"How do we know what he's up to?"

"He who?" Abdul asked without taking his eyes off the Gundam's overhead. They were magnificent. Even Duo's Deathscythe, though it looked somewhat clumsy and awkward as it flew with Sandrock, Heavyarms, and Shen Long, was a sight to behold. It was a demonstration as well as a lesson. Closer to the OZ base, the commander, Shark, watched with Noin to judge what training, if any, the young pilots needed.

The Maganac who'd spoken moved to stand next to Abdul. "Treize, of course." He, too, watched the Gundam's fly in a relatively lazy manner.

"We don't," Rashid, who'd just finished helping a young soldier properly set up his tent, replied as he, too, went to stand next to Abdul. "But Master Quatre believes in Treize and his cause. We will follow Master Quatre."

"Rashid," the same soldier had spoken. "We all love Master Quatre, as you do, but is it really wise to so blindly follow a child? An excellent pilot with incredible skills and maturity, but he is still a child."

Rashid answered, "We call him 'master' for a reason. We will follow where he leads."

That had been the end of the conversation.

A short time later Abdul spotted Touma's distinctive blue hair and called out to him before realizing that Touma was much too far away to have heard. Abdul watched a moment as Touma strode to the side of a building. He was dressed in the strange blue and white armor of some kind that frightened Abdul. He watched Touma walk and had the sudden, horrifying thought that the boy was walking away from their family.

Abdul broke into a run.

"Touma!"

This time, the boy heard and turned with a smile.

"What?" Abdul asked. "Are you trying to avoid us, now? We've been here a full day and haven't seen a thing of you. At least Quatre has an excuse." He pointed upward to the still practicing Gundams. Duo's Deathscythe had become phenomenally more graceful since his first flight only hours ago. "Where have you been?"

Touma looked over his shoulder to where the scarred Anubisu stood, waiting. "Sorry," Touma said when he turned back to face Abdul. "We've been sorting things out and getting ready for training. Anubisu and Rajura said we've got important things to learn." He hesitated, uncertainly. "You don't mind, do you? I was planning to come to the camp after the training was done - it's only going to be a few hours - but if you want me to come back with you and Rashid now - "

"No," Abdul said, quickly with as much of a smile as he could handle. "I think you know what's best for you, now. I'll admit, I don't understand a single thing you're going though. I've heard that you and all of them," he gestured to where Anubisu impatiently waited. "Consider yourselves family, but just remember that we're your family, too. Rashid, Quatre, and I will always be here for you. You don't have to rely solely on them." It all made Abdul sick with worry. Touma spoke of demons and magic where, not long ago, his mind had been focused on logic and reason. Touma wasn't acting irrational, though. His eyes were clear and focused, he seemed as sensible as ever. But… demons? Abdul wanted to understand and wanted to help, but he realized, when he saw Touma look over his shoulder at Anubisu, that there was a huge part of Touma's life Rashid, Quatre, and himself would never be able to be apart of.

"I really should go," Touma said.

It hurt.

It hurt more that there was nothing he could do about it.

Abdul forced a smile. "Go on, then. Training, my foot! You go and show that blue-haired punk what kind of training my blue-haired punk has already got."

Touma laughed then threw his arms around Abdul for a quick hug. "Don't worry. I'll kick plenty of butt. And don't worry. Ryou says Anubisu a great guy. I'll be alright." With that, Touma trot off towards Anubisu.

_He belongs to Rashid and I as much as if we all shared the same blood. _Abdul thought, watching Touma from a distance. Though he could see that physically Touma hadn't changed, there was something different about the boy, more confidence and pride in himself. _Maybe it's because the armor._ Touma's dark blue armor didn't look very practical to fight in, but Anubisu had said that the armor made Touma all the more powerful and that there was no army on Earth that could stand in his way. That thought was chilling.

What if it was true? What if Touma, and the rest of those boys really were powerful enough to stand up to an army all by themselves? Abdul let his eyes roam from Touma to the rest of the boys in the group, each one with similar, but different armor and weapons. Abdul of course knew Xiu and had known the Chinese boy for a good few years, but the rest were a mystery. Was it really a good thing if they could all wield such unstoppable power?

_This is getting me nowhere! _Abdul reprimanded himself. He shook his head and turned to go back to the camp. _It's not as if I can change what's already happened_. _Besides, I trust that he knows what he's doing. He's a good boy and won't do anything he shouldn't. _He couldn't help his smile. _He's grown up a lot._

It wasn't long after that when Abdul happened upon another lesson given by the eldest of the Ma-Sho, Rajura. He, however, wasn't training the boys, but OZ soldiers. Abdul snorted. Whoever would have thought that he'd be so casually watching the training of OZ soldiers? Abdul leaned against a building's wall and settled back to watch. After all, as he was going to be expected to work with these people, he ought to know what they were capable of.

Though Rajura had them all listening, they clearly weren't as receptive to the teachings as Anubisu's students were.

Rajura had everyone sitting around a large circle area and stood in the middle dressed very unconventionally. His long white hair was pulled back into a topknot, high on his head, and his eye patch clearly visible. Though he'd bought modern clothes, Rajura simply couldn't stand the thought of a uniform. He wore a multicolored kimono and sandals. "Everyone strip off your shirts." Rajura ordered.

The men did what they were told without question or hesitation, but the women, naturally, balked. Abdul saw their reaction and was impressed that some of them didn't just walk out then and there. The expressions on the women's faces ranged from shocked disbelief to insulted and furious as they stared at first Rajura, as if he'd lost his mind, and then at each other.

Rajura looked around, not at all surprised by the reaction he'd gotten. "Ladies, if you are too modest to do what the men of this army are required to do, you may leave. I will not teach those who are unable to follow the simplest of orders. You are here because you believe yourselves to be the equal of men. If that is so, you will do as the men do." It was a simple dismissal with no insult or accusation in his voice, but the way Rajura looked at the women, as if he was waiting for one of them to up and leave.

The faces of the women hardened and, though some were slower than the others, the women stripped off their military issued shirts. The men started to snicker and several whistled, making the faces of the women turn bright red with shame and most of them quickly moved to cover themselves with their hands. Strange, since they weren't bearing all that much as every one of them wore the undershirt they were required to wear with their uniform.

"Excellent. Those uniform shirts were far too restricting and none of you would be able to move properly." Rajura spoke secondly to the men. "Now that the ladies have joined us, may I make myself clear when I say that anyone, man or woman, who becomes distracted due to the nearness of the opposite sex, will be disciplined." The tone of his voice told Abdul that Rajura had no qualms about following though on his threat. "I will have you doing ten laps around this entire base in the middle of the night, tonight." Rajura grinned. "Gentlemen, I advise you not to gawk at the ladies and the next person to whistle will be given to Naaza and he will use you as a tool for teaching his field surgery course. You will not enjoy it."

Abdul at once saw the wisdom in what Rajura had done. He had put the men and women on equal footing, no privilege to either. Plus, he'd shown the women that he'd be giving no special treatment or be easy on them. They would get exactly the same training as the men with no special treatment. Abdul approved of Rajura's strict discipline; he'd used similar methods for training his own troops. Unfortunately, the OZ soldiers didn't seem to agree.

There was a discontent mutter amongst the crowd of soldiers, though Abdul noticed it was mostly coming from the men. The women actually seemed more at ease.

"Problem?" Rajura asked with a deceptively mild tone, looking around at the unhappy soldiers.

"Yeah." One of the young men spoke up with a snotty tone. There was a smirk on his face when he cast a look around at his comrades. "We're not going to do it, for one thing. Telling us to strip, especially the girls." He made a disgusted face. "You do realize you could be brought up on charges of sexual assault for making them strip in public. Then you're going to punish us?" He laughed crudely. "We serve Mr. Kushranada and our own officers, not you. You're just some outsider. If you want to earn whatever money Mr. Kushranada is paying you, you'd best be a little more polite. We've run off more trainers than you'd expect who thought they could just walk in and take over."

Abdul raised an eyebrow. This certainly wasn't how he'd expected OZ soldiers to behave.

"How lovely!" Rajura smiled, clapping his together as he looked at the man who'd spoken. "We have our first volunteer. Please, do step forward and help me to demonstrate the marvelous skills you intend to use to help your glorious master to victory and world domination."

The soldier's face turned red at Rajura's words and he quickly sprung to his feet, striding to the center of the circle of people and faced Rajura.

"Very good. You've risen to the challenge. That's a good start for a man, but not such a good one as a soldier. A soldier would had kept his mouth shut and his ears open. You are not here to think, you are here to do as your superiors tell you and I am your superior." Rajura said. "Now, as you can all see, I have only one eye. I have no depth perception. It should be simple for you to defeat me, shouldn't it?" He faced the soldier and there was nothing to betray what he was about to do, save a tiny, malicious glimmer in his eyes. "Go ahead. It's your move."

Abdul had heard and given similar lessons to the one Rajura was getting ready to give and decided that he didn't need to see what was coming next. It was bound to be fairly predictable. Pushing himself away from the wall where he was standing, Abdul went off to find Rashid.

Behind him, Abdul heard a high pitched scream and it certainly wasn't from Rajura.

Abdul stopped walking and looked out at the desert spread out around the OZ base. It wasn't the traditional desert with sand dunes and nothing living in sight. No, This was a grassland with the large Victoria Lake that had given its name to the OZ base. It was so good to feel warm for the first time in years.

_I haven't seen the African sun since before Touma came to live with us. _Abdul thought. He'd met Rashid in Africa, long ago, when they had both been boys. In a small village in the south of Egypt Abdul had first seen Rashid, practice shooting with other young men. Of course, Abdul had been too young to take part; he'd been little more than a child and Rashid had been almost fifteen. As a visitor to Abdul's tribe, Rashid was fascinating to Abdul. He'd never seen a boy so large or one that was such a good shot with a rifle. From first glance, Abdul had admired Rashid.

Who would have thought that years later they'd end up raising children together?

A few hours of doing little more than wandering around and getting himself used to the layout of the base, Abdul caught sight of Touma, again. No longer with Anubisu or the rest of his new friends, Touma was walking with Treize's young sister, Nasutei. They were a short distance away walking towards one of the buildings in the OZ compound and Touma had the distinct look of a guard on his face. His eyes were constantly shifting from side to side and Abdul remembered what Treize had said the day before. Touma was going to be one of Nasutei's guards.

Abdul felt his heart swell with pride. Both Quatre and Touma were the sons Abdul had always wished for. True, it hadn't been ideal. Quatre had rarely been with them, between his training to be a pilot and his father's business. Touma was good at fighting, but he didn't feel the passion necessary to make it a lifetime's work. He had always been far more interested in his books and learning. Despite all that, Abdul was proud of his boys. Abdul smiled sight of Touma standing tall and proud over the girl he'd been given charge of, for the day at least, and looking as confident as any young knight. _I guess we didn't do too badly by him, considering his start in life._

Though Abdul was still not quite sure about the wisdom of working with Treize, Abdul had to admit to the logic of Touma's argument.

"We all want the same thing," Touma had said at Treize's house. "You both want the Alliance and the Romafella Foundation destroyed. Treize isn't all that bad and he's the only one who has a chance of defeating them without war. I'm not sure how he plans to do it, but he says the whole OZ army is just a precaution. He says he's going to destroy the Alliance and no one's even going to know it."

"And you believe his word?" Rashid had asked skeptically.

Touma met Rashid's gaze evenly and confidently. "I believe him because I've seen enough proof to know his enemies are very bad people. I do NOT want them running this world. If Treize turns out to be like them," Touma's voice didn't even hesitate when he said this next, "We'll make way for another ruler who will do the right thing. But, we do have high hopes for Treize."

Abdul still didn't understand how Treize planned to reorder the entire world and the colonies, but he seemed very confident. Besides, since Touma was determined to go with his friends, Abdul didn't see that they had any other alternative. He and Rashid had to protect Touma and Quatre and for that they had to stay with them. Not that Quatre needed much protection anymore, not since he'd gotten his Gundam.

_I would like to see this power of Touma's in action, though. _He'd been told about Touma's god-like power, that the bow he carried so easily could destroy whole cities, but Abdul hadn't yet seen it. _Just once, I'd like to see it._

**Later-  
Shark-**

"How the Hell did this happen?" Shark demanded looking down at Private Marcus as he lay in the infirmary with his leg up in traction, his right arm broken, two black eyes and three teeth missing. Shark tapped her foot irritably, just knowing that this had to be the result of some kind of brawl. _How many times do I have to warn them about fighting? Now Mr. Kushranada is here, not to mention Miss Yagigyu... if they find out about this, Mr. Kushranada won't think I can handle this job. He'll think I can't control the men. I've never been so embarrassed in my life!  
_  
The injured young man looked away from her furious face. "Uhhh... training accident, ma'am." He answered, turning slightly red. "Sorry about this, I wasn't fighting, well, not really."

Shark's eyes narrowed. Her opinion of Mr. Kushranada's new trainers was not high. Mostly, she would admit, because of what Anubisu had said to her yesterday. Deliberately disabling her men? Shark scowled. "Doctor Po!"

Immediately, the newest addition to the medical staff of the OZ base turned from where she sat at her desk and went to Shark. Doctor Sally Po was a very efficient doctor, but she also carried herself with the attitude befitting a military officer, despite the that rumor had it she'd walked away from the Alliance for some reason. "Yes, Shark?"

Doctor Po was a very tall lady, so tall that Shark found herself looking up at her. "How was this man injured?" She asked, jerking her thumb towards private Marcus. "He doesn't seem to want to give me a complete answer."

Doctor Po smirked and crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh, so, are you ashamed of what you've done?" She asked Private Marcus. "Are you going to listen to your teachers now, like a good little boy?"

Private Marcus looked both angry and embarrassed. "I did what I had to do." He muttered.

Feeling more than a little put out because of being left out of the conversation, Shark demanded, "Will someone let me know what's going on?"

"Certainly." Doctor Po answered cheerfully. "Your private insulted his instructor, someone named Rajura, and got his tail kicked rather soundly. Nothing he won't heal from quickly enough, but it was enough to teach him not to mouth off when his teachers are talking, I'm guessing."

Shark rolled her eyes. "You're causing more trouble than we can afford. Don't you realize Mr. Kushranada is depending on us? What's he going to think if he sees you like this? You're a shame to us all, trying to chase off your teachers? Who do you think is going to make sure you survive the revolution? Rajura's not here for his amusement."

"I wouldn't be to sure of that, " Private Marcus muttered. "He seemed pretty happy when he was kicking me in the ribs."

"DID I ASK YOU TO SPEAK!?" Shark roared. "When I want an answer for you, you'll know it! Now shut up and listen!"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Those men are here to help you survive so you don't die and shame Mr. Kushranada during the war. Whether you like it or not, you and your comrades are all missing vital training. As your current condition proves, you know nothing about hand-to-hand combat and that could make all the difference in the war. You will treat Rajura, Anubisu, and Naaza with respect you'd show to your own mother. You will jump when they say jump and if you don't, you will answer to me. I don't care what Rajura has threatened you with, it will look like a day at the beach compared to what I will do to you, private."

"Yes, ma'am." Private Marcus replied, sounding properly chastised. Then, surprisingly, he looked up with a slight smile. "You should have seen him. I've never seen a man fight so well." The admiration in his voice couldn't be disguised and he didn't try to. "I think he'll do well here." Private Marcus chuckled. "He don't take crap, I'll give him that much."

Shark slapped his arm, eliciting a cry of pain. "There's a lady in the room, watch your mouth. Besides, it's not your judgment to make whether Rajura's suitable to be a teacher, Mr. Kushranada already made that decision!" Shark snapped. Though Shark knew she should be angry at Rajura for incapacitating one of her men, she couldn't help but be rather relieved. It seemed that Rajura knew what he was doing after all and he wouldn't take any disrespect from the soldiers.

"Excuse me?" A new voice called and Shark looked towards the voice, her breath taken away the moment she looked at the girl who now stood in the doorway of the infirmary, one hand on the doorjamb while she looked between Doctor Po and Shark. "I'm looking for someone called Shark?" The girl was very young, no more than twenty, at most, and had short, auburn hair that bounced in curls around her face and sparkling violet eyes. She was quite the loveliest girl Shark had ever laid eyes on.

Shark opened her mouth and then closed it again, unable to speak a word. For the first time in her life, Shark was speechless.

Doctor Po poked Shark in the back and hissed, "Go talk to her!" The amusement in her voice made Shark painfully aware how obvious she was being. Fortunately, the poke also brought back her voice.

"May I help you?" Shark asked, stepping forward, her voice cracking awkwardly. She was all too aware of how much amusement Doctor Po was having at her expense and that Private Marcus was watching everything. Still, Shark just couldn't take her eyes off this girl. "I'm Shark."

"Oh, hey!" Private Marcus sat up as much as he could, given his condition, and smiled at the girl. "You're the girl, I showed around, aren't you? Shark, this is Miss Mouri Catherine. She's Shin's sister and Mr. Kushranada asked me to show her around when she arrived. She got here just a little after Mr. Kushranada did, in fact. Sorry, I thought someone told you she was here."

The girl smiled and, to Shark, it looked like the rising sun. "Hello. I came here to see my brother, Shin." She looked at Shark expectantly. "You do remember him, don't you?"

"Mouri Shin? Oh, yes, of course." Shark desperately tried to remember if he was the blonde boy or the black haired boy who came with Rajura. "So, what can I do for you, Miss Catherine?"

"Well, I was wondering if I could stay here, just so I could be close to Shin, you understand. He's my baby brother and I worry about him terribly. The last time I saw him, he'd been shot and he almost died. Now I find him on a military base and he tells me he's going to be a bodyguard." The distress in her voice tore at Shark's heart.

"That's not a problem. I'm sure we can find you a room and I wouldn't want to stand in the way of family, after all." Shark was amazed, when she thought about it, later, that she could speak at all. Catherine's eyes seemed so bright. Looking back on that moment, Shark knew that she'd lost every trace of dignity and professionalism (in front of an audience, too!) just because she liked a girl. "Will you follow me?" Shark stepped forward and gestured for the girl to follow her. This was highly unusual. Normally, Shark didn't involve herself with relationships of any kind, her work was far too important.

Catherine beamed at Shark, delighted and all thoughts of work flew out the window like butterflies. She led the girl around with, what she was sure was, a foolish grin on her face. The errand only took a few minutes, unfortunately, and Shark left Catherine in an empty room, with a promise to find some homey things to furnish it with.

She returned to the infirmary only to find Doctor Po waiting for her though Private Marcus had fallen asleep. "If I hadn't seen that, I'd never have believed it."

"What are you talking about?" Shark demanded, her voice a little less hard than it had been before Catherine's visit. She found herself still wishing that she could be walking with Catherine, even though when she was with Catherine, she hadn't been able to think of a single thing to talk about.

"I've heard a lot of things about your reputation, Shark, but love-sick puppy wasn't one of them. You were nearly panting at her." Doctor Po shook her head and looked over her shoulder at Shark. "If I were you, I'd just get it over with and let your interest be known."

Shark turned away sharply. "I have no idea what you're talking about!" She snorted derisively before heading out. "I have work to do, let me know if Private Marcus' condition changes any, will you?"

Of course she understood what Doctor Po was talking about, she just didn't have time for it. There was so much work to be done. The entire base was her responsibility as well as the safety of Mr. Kushranada and his guests. The paper work alone was almost mind-numbing in the amount. She just couldn't allow herself to be distracted, not by something as silly and fleeting as romance. It was ridiculous. Absurd.

A memory of a distant literature lessons floated though Shark's memory. 'The lady doth protest to much… '

_Oh, shut up._ Shark told the memory, heading towards her office. _I'm busy. I don't have time for this.  
_  
**The months passed-  
Kay-**

Kay was sweaty and dirty when it was time to eat and she came into the dining room Rajura had made in their private rooms half-way leaning on Heero. Though she was sore and even bleeding from a few little scrapes, Kay felt good. It was just like the old days, except that now she was sparring with Heero instead of one of her brothers. It was all right, though. Kay liked Heero very much and she was already starting to think of him as one of her brothers.

"Are you sure I didn't hurt you?" Heero asked, softly. He was so shy and didn't like speaking loudly, but had been very worried that he would cause her serious harm while they were sparring.

"I'm alright." She answered with a smile. In truth, had she fought all out, Kay was pretty sure she could have killed Heero. Since she knew he didn't have magic like her brothers, Kay had decided to use only her mundane skills. She fought with her jitte and didn't use a single bit of magic to enhance her fighting. She'd learned that Heero was a VERY good fighter and that he was almost as careful of her as Rajura was. "Are you going to eat lunch with us, Heero?"

Heero nodded silently and took a seat next to her at the table Mama Fan had earlier set up. They sat in silence and Kay found that she didn't mind it. Except for Rajura, her brothers had always been very talkative, especially at meal times. As much as Naaza said he hated humans, he was really the most gentle person, Kay knew. It was Naaza, in fact, who would start the gentle teasing that would lead into challenge fighting and little mock battles around the palace. Sh'ten would shout stinging insults while Anubisu tried to beat the others into submission with Ryou's help. Duo, as usual, would be laughing hysterically from his seat next to Rajura.

Kay truly missed her home and life in the Youja-Kai, but, and she only realized this just at that moment when she was sitting with Heero, that life was still good. Despite the nightmares she still had of being Saranbo's puppet, and despite all the new things going on, with Duo being trained to go all over the world, and both Duo and Ryou choosing lovers... life was good.

Treize and Zechs appeared first, for lunch. Treize looked happier than Kay could remember seeing him, and he walked openly with his arm around Zechs. "What's for lunch, Mrs. Fan?" Treize asked, sitting opposite of Heero and Kay. "It's been a long morning."

"Pork buns." Mama Fan announced, though the table was already laden with a lot more than just pork buns. It seemed that Mama Fan didn't approve of skimping at meal times. "Where is everyone?" She looked over her shoulder at Treize. Once, Mama Fan had said, "I hope no one thinks they're going to be skipping meals just because of all these changes! I'll not have underfed family!"

"They're on their way, ma'am." Treize answered with a smile.

Just as he'd said that, people started filing in. All of Kay's brothers along with Ryou and Duo's new friends, and Nasty. Kay loved Nasty very dearly and she was glad Nasty was happy, being suddenly pregnant. Kay had been confused about this whole pregnancy thing and Rajura had tried to explain, but he hadn't done a very good job. Mama Fan, rolling her eyes when she'd walked in on the awkward conversation, took Kay by the hand and took her aside. "Honestly, a girl your age not knowing anything. It's a shame."

Rajura defended himself by, "I didn't think she'd be curious so soon. She's still just a child."

Mama Fan shook her head at him. "A child? Open your eyes, dear, she's almost old enough to have children herself."

"What?!" Rajura sat up and pounded his fists on his knees. "She is NOT old enough to have children!"

"She's thirteen and I've known girls as young as fourteen who've had children. What were you going to tell her when she started becoming a woman? Oh, honestly, the girl needs her first bra... "

Rajura gave a her a blank look. "A what?"

"Never mind, I'll take it from here. You go out and fight or whatever it is you do during the day. Kay, come walk with me. We have a lot to discuss."

At least now Kay was more informed than she'd been before. Kay shook her head and got her mind back to what was going on now. The table Rajura had created was huge and it was perfect for family conversation. The conversation was loud and several conversations went on at once, until Mama Fan called for everyone's attention.

"I'm worried about Kay. It isn't right for a young girl to be so alone." Mama Fan no longer had to feed Lai, for Lai was hardly a baby, any longer. She was a two-years-old and happily, if messily, fed herself at the table while her mama spoke. "Lai's not really old enough to play with Kay and Nasutei has other concerns now."

Kay looked up from her food, surprised. She certainly hadn't expected to be the subject of conversation.

"She isn't alone," Rajura said defensively. "She's got us."

Mama Fan went on, "It isn't the same. A girl her age needs other girls to talk to. All these soldiers are too old for her and she's going to want to be away from her family sometimes."

Rajura frowned. "She's never said anything about being lonely."

"Of course she hasn't," Mama Fan said. "She isn't used to being in a position where she has any choice. How often, in her childhood, has she been able to play with other little girls?"

"She doesn't need girls." Duo spoke up and he looked just a little bit angry. "She had us. Ryou and I always played with her when she wanted us to."

Kay was starting to feel a little left out of the conversation.

"It isn't the same, trust me, dear. I wish there were some way she could have other girls her age to talk with. She's getting to an age where a girl needs other girls."

Treize, for the first time since the meal had begun, spoke up. "She can."

"What?" Mama Fan looked at him sharply with a hopeful look. "Really?"

"Oh, yes. This base is right next to the tribal grounds of the Tauragi village. It's a good sized village, so they must have some girls about Kay's age. A very private sort of people, but I don't think they'd have any problem with a few visitors, now and again. You can't go there without permission from the village's high priestess, Naria, but she's a very nice girl and I'm sure she won't mind. I think she's due for a visit, she usually comes by for a visit every now and again. You can speak with her then."

"Why does she stop by?" Shin asked.

"Well, I think she rather admires Shark, to be honest. Naria's a very gentle girl, she's never had a need to fight, so she thinks it's remarkable that Shark fights so well. I believe the chief of the village is a young man named Mukara, but I've never met him."

From there, the conversation drifted away and Kay was left with her thoughts. She wanted to be the way she was before she'd been kidnapped, but she didn't seem to be able to clear the gloom away. She felt better, certainly, than she had, but it was still like there was a weight on her that she couldn't lift.

"Don't worry."

Kay looked at Heero who'd spoken so quietly no one but Kay had heard him. "Huh?" She wasn't sure that she remembered everything that had happened in the battle she'd fought with her brothers, but she was pretty sure Heero had been there. Hadn't he seen what she'd done?

Heero looked at her out of the corner of his eye as he ate. "It will pass."

For some reason, that made Kay feel much better. She'd heard that Heero had a hard past, too, so if he could survive, maybe she could outlive her nightmares.

**Wufei-**

"Oh, Wufei, I mean to tell you. I've found a name for the baby!"

"Great. What is it?" Wufei actually found himself starting to feel fatherly about Nasty's unborn child, to the point where he was even starting to buy baby clothes. He was amazed at how beautiful Nasty was, even though she had started to dress in those horrible, tent-like dressed all pregnant women wore and waddled rather than walked. She even had to have help sitting and standing, not that Wufei minded. When he couldn't be with her, it was comforting to know that Treize or Naaza would be close at hand. He wasn't entirely sure why Naaza had gotten so suddenly attached to Nasty, but he was sure that Naaza wasn't in love with Nasty.

"Yagiyu Koma Toshitada." Nasty announced with pride the name she'd found.

The Ma-Sho all froze and stared at her in disbelief. "May I ask, Nasty-sama, where you found such a name?" Rajura asked softly with his eyes glued on Nasty.

Without letting go of Wufei's arm, Nasty explained, putting a large book on the table and opening it. "It's a family name, actually. This is a book of our family history, we're a very old family. Ah! Here it is. See?" She turned the book so the Ma-Sho could all get a good look at the painting of a man, wearing ornate armor and smiling wickedly at the painter.

Duo's eyes went wide just before he spit out his food all over Zechs, who jumped back with disgust on his face.

"What do you think you're doing, Duo?" Zechs demanded, though he got no answer from the stunned braided boy.

Ryou started choking and had to have Noin pat him on the back.

Rajura turned even paler than usual and his mouth fell open, spilling his drink all down the from of his clothes.

Naaza looked like he was going to faint.

Wufei looked at the picture of the red haired man and thought he looked familiar somehow, but he couldn't quite place where he'd seen the man before.

Nasty went on to explain as if she didn't see their reactions. "Koma Toshitada was an ancestor of mine and Treize. Many hundreds of years ago he was a very brave man and a great warrior. He was the head of our family. Because he was such a great warrior, the Emperor made him a Diamyo."

**Naaza-**

_Sh'ten. That's my 'Ten-chan. _Naaza felt his vision blur and then he saw spots for a moment before he was able to refocus on the ancient picture of Sh'ten, before he'd been taken into the service of Arago.

Looking at a painting of the love of his life, his hair longer and wilder as it had been before he'd come to the Youja-Kai, there was no mistake in Naaza's mind that it was definitely Sh'ten. The painting had been done with a small girl on his lap and his helmet in the crock of one arm. Sh'ten, or rather, Toshitada, looked at the girl with such adoration there was no doubt that this was the daughter he'd loved so dearly and had spoken of so often.

To confirm this, Nasty pointed at the girl, "That was Koma Kadiri, his daughter, and my many time great grandmother."

Ryou and Duo stood up as one and silently walked out of the dining hall.

**Nasty-**

Of course Nasty knew what she was doing when she showed them the picture of Koma Toshitada. _I KNEW it! I just knew I'd recognized Sh'ten when I saw him! _She hid the smile she felt threatening to break through and, instead, focused on the black and white picture in the book. The picture was a reproduction of one that hung on a wall at grandfather Yagiyu's home, a painting she'd seen nearly every day of her life. _They'd never have told me if I just asked; they're so secretive. They can't deny the expression on their faces, though._

She was pleased that her suspicion was satisfied, but she wasn't pleased by the reactions she got. Duo and Ryou had rushed away, clearly disturbed. The proud, confident Ma-Sho were all pale and shaking. Worst of all, Kay burst out in hysterical sobs. Kay turned to Heero and threw herself in his arms.

Heero stood up and helped Kay to her feet, with a protective arm around her as they started out of the dining room with Kay still crying. "She needs to walk." To anyone who didn't know Heero, it would have sounded odd to suggest curing grief with walking, but Heero equated physical fitness with wellness. It was because of his upbringing, but as a result, if someone were feeling upset in any way, Heero would take them out to walk or run around the OZ complex with him, depending on who it was. Nasty, Kay, Lai, or Mama Fan, he would take for walks. Everyone else, Heero thought should run.

_At least I'm over my morning sickness. _Nasty thought, ruefully. _Having Wufei and Treize talk Heero out of taking me for a walk at six in the morning in my nightdress was embarrassing, to say the least. I'm still not sure if Heero understands. _Apparently, Doctor J hadn't thought to teach Heero anything about reproduction.

Of course, Duo and Ryou were also finding Nasty's pregnancy educational and kept tabs on her daily. Sometimes, Nasty honestly felt like she were a science experiment, what with the constant questions. Duo had almost doubled over with happiness when he'd asked to feel her stomach one morning and felt the baby kick.

Heero and Kay left, leaving Nasty with everyone else looking at her with varying expressions of disbelief and confusion. Nasty looked away from Naaza's abject grief to Rajura and his icy glare. "I… I'm sorry."

"You should be," Rajura answered, coldly. "You've upset the children needlessly. No matter what your suspicions or what 'evidence' you have regarding your ancestor and my baby brother, what you just did was utterly cruel. You had no reason to say such a thing in front of the children just to see what kind of reaction you'd get. We were not lying to you. Yes, Sh'ten's name had once been Koma Toshitada. Yes, he had once had a daughter, Kadiri. He spoke about her often. You and your brother may well be part of our family, but I do not appreciate the way you go out of your way to… " He stopped and took a deep breath. "Naaza." He put a hand on Naaza's shoulder. "Come. Walk with me."

Nasty watched them leave and slowly set her book on the dinner table. She looked around at everyone staring at her in silence. Rajura was right. She hadn't thought it out well. "I didn't mean to hurt anyone. Really."

Under the table, Wufei took her hand.

Treize said, "We all make mistakes. Apologies might be a good idea, though."

Apologies were made and given and, in time, the incident forgiven.

It was days later when Rajura announced that he and Mama Fan had decided that it would be a good time to escort Kay to the nearby village. Nasty wanted to go, too, and, as she was almost seven months pregnant, Naaza had also insisted on going along. Wufei would have gone, but his new duty as Treize's bodyguard interfered.

"Are Duo and Ryou still angry with me?" Nasty asked when Treize found her looking out to the huge hanger where she saw Ryou talking with Duo at the feet of Deathscythe.

"No." Treize answered. He was dressed in his finest. From the finely tailored blue velvet jacket with the gold trim, to his white gloves and even the diamond earring - something he rarely wore - Treize was wearing a fortune. "I don't think they were ever really angry. They were just surprised. Rajura had a talk with them and he says they're alright. Sh'ten was a very important part of their life and seeing him again was a shock."

"I hope you're right. They looked so upset."

"Enough of that. Are you sure you'll be alright going out to the village?" Treize had asked. "I don't want you wearing yourself out for no reason. The village is a fair distance away, but I can send Shark to show Mrs. Fan and Kay the way."

"I'll be fine. You worry too much." Nasty hugged him tightly. "I know what you're going to do today."

"Do you?" Treize raised an eyebrow, but then he looked over her head at the preparations behind Nasty, in the large hanger. The five boys who would act as his bodyguards were already getting into their Gundams, apparently perfectly confident at what was about to happen. Two dozen OZ soldiers, fresh from Rajura's training and looking far more confident than ever before because of that training, were loading up the transport plane that would take them to Japan.

"Yes." Nasty gave him a kiss on the cheek and smiled. "Good luck. You've earned this."

"It won't be long before I send for you, Nasty. I'll call you as soon as I've overturned the government."

She laughed. "You make it sound like it's just another day at the office."

"No. But I do think it's time I started doing my job. The Alliance's council has made the world believe that I am the leader of the Alliance and that I control the Earth and the colonies. I think it's time I turned that lie into reality. Now, remember, don't make me an uncle until I come back. For one thing, Wufei would never forgive me for keeping him away."

That comment made Nasty get serious. "I think you might have come to like him after all this time, Treize."

"Oh, I suppose so." He looked up at Wufei who now sat in the cockpit of his beloved Shen Long and was doing a systems check. "He's a good lad and he'll make a good man, in a few years. I don't really mind having him as a brother-in-law."

Nasty gaped. "How did you... ?"

"I know I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I'm not entirely blind, either. You haven't been very subtle in your hunting of that young man, but do us both a favor and have a talk with his aunt before you trap him. She likes you, so she won't mind, but it is the mannerly thing to do, get the family's permission first, I mean." Then Treize laughed. "I think the only person who doesn't know you've got designs on Wufei, is Wufei himself."

**Elsewhere-  
Dorothy-**

Dorothy had never been in Africa before and she found the hot, arid land somehow... refreshing. There was a stark beauty to the land she'd never seen anywhere else. She didn't feel moved as she'd heard other people say the experience of an African sunset moved them to great joy or to tears, but she did appreciate the artistic beauty.

"Are you sure of this, Badamon?" Dorothy asked as she let the spirit guide her. "Treize's base is further north, I'm certain." Trust wasn't the issue. The worst Badamon could do was kill her and Dorothy had no fear of death. The issue was time. She wanted to get the meeting over with before Treize found out she was in the neighborhood, or he might interfere.

"Very sure." Badamon answered easily. He floated though trees as easily as he floated around them, not even seeming to notice them. "I know more about the yoroi than any other creature, even Arago himself. He created the yoroi, but he didn't understand it completely. He didn't understand all of its vast power and the unlimited possibilities it held. He didn't understand that that there was more than one yoroi. There is a twin." He cackled for a moment while he spoke, taking great delight in his own cleverness.

Dorothy commented, "I didn't even know there was one. Are you keeping information from me that I should know?"

"No." Badamon answered easily. "I give you all the information you need. The Kikoutei is a... weapon. It can currently be used only by the strength of nine people combining, but it's useless unless they are all in agreement about what to do. This other yoroi has never been divided. It can still be wielded by a single bearer. In this forgotten place, untouched by civilization, we will find this other yoroi with the power to rival and defeat the Shiroi Kikoutei. We will start your devastating war and I will create a new master to replace Arago and the usurper, Kenbukyou. He has no respect for the way things should be in the Youja-Kai, therefore he has no place there. I will raise up a new creature to take his place as the Demon Emperor."

"That's a grand speech." Dorothy said, pushing her way though the dense foliage. "But it tells me nothing. What is this power? You've told me about Kikoutei and how it can destroy a whole world, but what power can be greater than that?"

"In this place, there is another who bears the black armor, the Kuroi Kikoutei. The Shiroi Kikoutei is weak because it is shared. The Kuroi Kikoutei, however, is ruled by one mortal, alone. He is strength and is unencumbered by emotional drivel. He serves the Kuroi Kikoutei as if it were a god and doesn't even realize how very powerful he could be." Badamon stopped talking as he gestured slightly ahead to where Dorothy could suddenly hear a frantic tattoo of drums and the raised voices of enraptured people coming through the jungle at them. "Ah, we are here."

Dorothy pushed the branches and wide leaves aside and peered cautiously out at what Badamon had led her to. It was a village, quite a large village, and everyone looked to be celebrating something. At one side, raised high on a stone-like platform, Dorothy's eyes first fell on a kneeling girl, her eyes lowered submissively. She was lovely, with dark skin and pale blue hair. She was decorated like a queen with riches in gold and jewels. Just beside her, though, stood a more commanding figure.

Even Dorothy had to admit this young man looked like he was a born king. He held himself with the assured knowledge that he was the most powerful person in the universe and no one could ever hope to defy him. His arrogance was undeniable, but even Dorothy could see the dangerously intelligent glint in his eyes. He reminded her fiercely of Treize.

"He's the one we want." Dorothy murmured. None of the lower creatures, feverishly dancing below the man and the girl, could possibly be the great warrior Badamon had been searching for.

"Yes. Mukara. He is the one we will use to destroy my enemies and start your war. He will become the new emperor of the Youja-Kai."

"How, exactly, do you plan to convince him of this?" Dorothy kept her eyes on the celebration. "He doesn't look like the type to obey orders, if you just tell him."

"Oh, certainly not. I know the yoroi, though, and he will obey. Let's go introduce ourselves, shall we?"

**Naria-**

In her hut, the largest in the village where she and Mukara lived, Naria tried not to glare at her guest. She neither liked nor trust the blonde woman who sat before Mukara, with her legs folded neatly beneath her. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that the foreign girl had a little too much knowledge of the sacred Kuroi Kikoutei. Perhaps it was because the blonde foreigner was trying to get Mukara to wear the yoroi into battle against unsuspecting people.

Whatever the reason, Naria listened in suspicious silence while Dorothy spoke to Mukara. She spoke of a war between demons and how it had slipped into the mortal world. She told them of a usurper of the demon's throne and she told them of a war that was brewing between Treize Kushranada and the Alliance. She told them many things, but it wasn't until she mentioned the Shiroi Kikoutei that Mukara looked at all interested. "It was Badamon, a demon priest, who led me here. He seemed to believe you'd be interested that the Shiroi Kikoutei is near, resting at the OZ base, under the protection of Treize Kushranada. I was also told to let you know your involvement would not go un-rewarded. You have been offered a place of great power in this and another world. Badamon and Saranbo, two demons of great standing, are offering to help you to the throne of the demons. You would be the emperor of a whole world."

Mukara said nothing. He watched Dorothy for a moment and then, as Naria had known he would, he turned to Naria and nodded.

Naria took her cue. "If you'll excuse us, Mukara and I must discuss this." Naria stood up and pulled open the curtained doorway of the hut, motioning Dorothy to leave. "One of the women will show you a place where you may rest yourself. I'm sure you've had a long journey."

"You disapprove," Mukara said when Dorothy was safely gone. He rarely spoke when there were people around, but it was all right when he was alone with Naria. They'd been friends since childhood, long before the Kuroi Kikoutei meant anything to them and long before they'd fallen in love.

"You know I do." Naria sat down in front of him, smoothing her skirt over her knees and looked at Mukara's hard face. She knew she was the only person in the entire village who could look at him, unafraid. Everyone was in awe of the power given to him by the legendary Kuroi Kikoutei, but Naria understood it better than most people, probably better than Mukara, himself. "A war? We're a peaceful people. There's no reason for us to get involved with any kind of battle. The only reason to use Kuroi Kikoutei is for defense."

"She said the Shiroi Kikoutei is at that man's village. The place called OZ, near the great lake." Mukara looked away from Naria, thoughtfully. "If I could face the Shiroi Kikoutei... just once... I would know who is stronger."

Naria leaned forward and seized Mukara's face in her hands, forcing him to look at her. "Listen to me, Mukara! You'll kill us all, thinking only of your strength and ego. Think before you do anything, my love." Naria's tone softened and her grip on Mukara's face lightened into a caress. "Think of us. What would I do without you? If you died in the battle... "

"I won't."

"If you do, I think I would kill myself to join you."

The look of worry on Mukara's face was enough to let Naria know she'd gotten his attention. "You mustn't!" He reached up and took her wrist, pulling her hand away from his face and bringing it to his lips. With that gentle kiss Naria was almost assured of her place in Mukara's heart. Almost. There was always the Kuroi Kikoutei to consider. More than once, Naria had doubted that Mukara loved her more than he loved it.

Not that it would have surprised her, really. He'd been chosen by the Kuroi Kikoutei. It was his right and privilege to be the only one to wear it. Mukara was justifiably proud of the Kuroi Kikoutei and he had dedicated his whole life to it. _As I have, _Naria reminded herself. She was the chosen priestess of the Kuroi Kikoutei and it ruled her almost as harshly as it ruled Mukara.

"I do love you," Mukara said, softly. "But I must obey the will of the Kuroi Kikoutei."

"Remember, above all else, before all other responsibilities, you are the guardian of this village. You were the guardian of the village long before the Kuroi Kikoutei called to you and before I chose you as my beloved. You do not have to obey the will of the Kuroi Kikoutei. The only thing you have to do is protect the people of this village, even if it means going against the will of the Kuroi Kikoutei."

Mukara pulled away from Narai and jumped to his feet angrily. "That is heresy!"

Naria regarded him coolly. "I am the high priestess, Mukara. I say what is heresy. Do not get above yourself." She had her own pride and position to consider, just as Mukara did. It made for an often stormy relationship.

For a very long moment, Mukara stared down at Naria, as if he were attempting to make her lower her eyes, as the other villagers did. Naria met his eyes fiercely and did not turn away. Finally, Mukara turned. "I will speak with the Kuroi Kikoutei. Then I will give you and the foreign woman my decision."

"It must agree with mine," Naria reminded him softly. "I will not let you endanger our people for your pride. Kushranada has been kind to our people and has never offered us any harm. I will not allow an invasion of his land without due cause. He has often given us use of his doctors and medicine. He has never once raised his army against us. He has never even entered our land without invitation, a courtesy most foreigners do not show us. If the Shiroi Kikoutei is on the OZ base, I am content to let it stay there, asleep."

Mukara left without another word.

Naria turned to the small fire in the center of the hut. "I will not... I will not allow the Shiroi and the Kuroi to battle. If it costs me my life... I will not lose Mukara." Standing, Naria went to where she stored many of the herbs and spices she used in the ceremonies dedicated to Kuroi Kikoutei. With determination, she began to pull jars and small bags off the shelves of her hut, knowing that what she wanted was at the very back. She knew because she'd never used it before, nor had any of her predecessors. In fact, the jar had never been opened.

At last, Naria found it. The ancient jar was painted with markings to ward off evil and symbols of protection against earthly threats as well as not-so-human ones. It had originally painted red, though now it was covered with dust and the paint had long since started to peel and chip away. Naria considered using it now, opening the jar and throwing what was inside into the small fire in her hut.

Then she looked out her window and saw Mukara stalking towards the resting place of the Kuroi Kikoutei. He was angry with her for asserting her power and reminding him that though she rarely used that power, her authority in the village was greater than his.

_I can trust Mukara to do the right thing. He'll be more sensible when he calms down._ Naria tried to convince herself. _He didn't trust Dorothy anymore than I did, I could tell._ Then Naria saw Dorothy come from around one of the huts and follow Mukara. _Then again...  
_  
Dorothy was dangerous. She wanted Mukara to use the Kuroi Kikoutei and seemed very sure that she could get Mukara to do what she wanted him to. Naria certainly didn't want to openly challenge Mukara's position, it would be unspeakably embarrassing for him, though she would if he forced the issue.

_I won't lose him, not to the Kuroi Kikoutei, not to another woman, and not to death. To fight the Shiroi Kikoutei means death to both. Mukara is mine._

Determined, Naria knelt by the fire in the center of her hut and took the lid of the jar with one hand, trying to force it open. She pulled and pulled, straining to open the stubborn jar, but the lid was sealed very tightly. She pulled against it for the longest time until finally she gave up. _I'm not built for strength. _She admitted as she set the jar on the square of fabric and stood up. _I'll just have to use a bit of gentle persuasion._ Naria smashed the jar with the heel of her foot, sending powder flying everywhere. She would only need a handful.

Naria scooped up a handful of the fine powder and, with a careful hand, poured the powder into the fire, watching as the fire flared from red to a faint purple color and she spoke the ancient words, calling forth a demon.

**Youja-Kai-**

Kenbukyou rarely slept, but he happened to be fast asleep when he felt the pull. It tore him from sleep, like a knife in the back, sending sharp pain though his whole body. It was a summoning, he knew. Magic of the highest degree and it was reaching for him, calling him. "Someone dares to call me, like I were a dog?"

Kenbukyou was out of his bed and fully dressed in his armor in only moments, before he held out one hand and opened a gateway to the Ningen-Sekai right in his chambers. The two red columns appeared as he knew they would and Kenbukyou stepped through, ready to punish whoever would dare such an insult.

What he saw when he stepped through the gateway was a mild surprise. It was a young girl with soft blue hair framing a pretty, intelligent face. The girl did not rise to her feet when Kenbukyou appeared, but she spoke with respect.

"Demon master, I believe there is something you should know."  
**  
To be continued...**


	42. Conquest

**Chapter 42: Conquest**

Heero-

Just before it was time to take off to help Treize with his conquering of the Alliance, Duo called to Heero, "Nezumi! Come help me!"

Heero looked out from Wing Zero's cockpit and saw Duo waving excitedly from the cockpit of his Deathscythe. Wordlessly, Heero left his Gundam and made his way to Duo's. _I should have known that he'd need help. _Heero thought. _He's only had a few months training and the rest of us were given years. He's going to end up hurting himself… I should have told him to stay behind._

He climbed up Deathscythe until he reached the cockpit and looked in at Duo who immediately thrust the object of his agitation at Heero : two pink cubes that were attached to each other by a long string. Each cube had black dots on every side of it.

"What is that?" Heero asked after a moment of studying it.

"Fuzzy dice!" Duo said triumphantly. "It took me forever to find them!" He flopped onto the cockpit seat and held the dice close to his face. "I had to beg them off one of the OZ soldiers and even then I promised her a favor. I remember these from when I was a kid. One of the kids at the orphanage had some he hung off the end of his bed and I always thought they were just the coolest things! There was nothing like these in the Youja-Kai, I gotta tell ya." Duo set the fuzzy dice on his lap and smiled at Heero. "What are you hanging around out there for? Why don't you come in?"

It might as well have been an order. Moving as far into the tiny cockpit as possible, Heero balanced on the edge of the cockpit with his feet on either side of Duo's and his hands on the open door high over his head. It was very close quarters and Heero wouldn't have gotten so close with anyone but Duo. Well... with Seiji, too, but that was different.

Still, Duo said nothing and the abnormal silence was starting to make Heero nervous.

**Duo-**

Duo often wondered if Heero even know how utterly tempting he was. Everything about him. Every inch of him was simple perfection.

"You said you needed help?" Heero asked as his eyes made a quick scan of the interior of the Gundam.

Duo knew that Heero wouldn't see anything wrong with the Gundam, Duo had gone over it three times already, just to make sure that nothing had malfunctioned. He might be silly sometimes, but Duo hadn't been raised to be stupid.

"Yeah." Duo looked straight up above his head. "Take a look at that, will you?" Duo almost laughed out loud when Heero leaned forward and looked up at where Duo had indicated. _This is just too easy. _Heero had left his hands on the hatch door and leaned most of his body forward, putting his chest only inches from Duo's face. Duo let himself admire the view, reflecting that not only had he found a guy with a perfect outside, but he'd also found one with a remarkably kind heart.

Heero had been so kind and thoughtful when he tried to help Kayura and he'd done his best to help Nasty through bouts of morning sickness. He'd given Quatre a massage when a muscle in Quatre's leg had seized up. Once, Wufei had lost a book in Rajura's illusion house and it was Heero who'd found it. He'd put the book in plain sight and said nothing, but looked pleased when Wufei had found the book. One night, just after dinner, Mama Fan had been really tired. Heero had snuck into the kitchen they used and did all the washing up for her before he went out for his ritual evening run around the base.

"I don't see anything," Heero said, obviously not suspecting a thing. "Your instruments all read normal."

"I'd like to have a closer look at your instruments, though," Duo muttered as his right hand slowly reached for the controls of the hatch door.

Heero looked down at Duo just in time to see a devious smile spread across Duo's face. Duo pressed the button and the hatch door swung down, only just giving Heero time to get his hands and feet out of the way, but not time enough to avoid Duo. Duo's hands flashed out and grabbed Heero by the hips and gave him a sharp tug. Just as Duo had planned, Heero fell into his lap, with his knees on either side of Duo's legs.

Duo smiled at Heero's surprised expression. "You know, for such a high class soldier, you sure don't guard yourself well."

Heero's surprised expression turned to one of caution. "We leave for a mission in... "

"Twenty minutes," Duo finished for him. "It's more than enough time for us to talk."

"Talk?"

"Yes, talk." Duo kept his hands on Heero's hips. After all this time of trying to seduce Heero, Duo had decided that subtlety wasn't going to work. "You're shy and a little thick about some things so I'm going to be blunt. I find you very attractive. In fact, I think you're the most beautiful person I've ever seen. I like everything about you, from the color of your eyes to the shape of your hands. I would be very pleased if you'd let me get closer to you... physically." Duo knew he had to phrase this in just the right way or he would frighten Heero.

The weary look in Heero's eyes increased, but he stayed calm enough to speak. "You want... sex?" His voice didn't even shake when he said it and Duo was very proud of him.

"Yes, Heero. I would like sex with you." At Heero's momentarily panicked look, Duo reassured him. "Not right now. We don't have time to do it properly. My brothers taught me all the right things to do. A virgin I may be, but I promise I won't do anything to deliberately hurt you."

"I'm not a virgin." Heero's body tensed. "But... I don't know... I don't know if I can make you the same promise." He lowered his head until he unruly bangs covered his eyes. "I might hurt you."

"I'm not afraid. I won't rush you and I won't push you. I love you. Besides, we don't have to do it now. There's all the time in the world." Duo put a hand to Heero's face and smiled. "I can wait forever for you." Duo let his hand drift down from Heero face to his neck, wrapping around Heero's neck and finding the quickened pulse. Heero was a frightened, but not as badly as he had been in the past. Duo let his hand slide down, caressing Heero's collarbones and running over the material of his OZ uniform.

Unexpectedly, Heero turned bright red and leaned forward. Hesitantly, at first, Heero put his face as close as he could to Duo's without touching him. "Seiji... Seiji kisses Ryou. He says it feels good." Heero whispered. "Do you... want me to?"

"You don't have to ask permission. I like it when you touch me." As much as he wanted to, Duo didn't grab Heero and start the kiss. Naaza had told him that it would be better to let Heero move at his own pace as anything too aggressive might frighten Heero. Naaza was a good one to know about things like that. He'd spent most of his early life being told that he was hideous so when he'd met Mama Sh'ten things hadn't gone smoothly. Mama Sh'ten had tried to flirt that first day by chaining Naaza to a wall, but Naaza had taken it the wrong way and attacked. It had been a mess, Naaza had said, and he'd been terrified. Better to go slow and patiently.

Heero got a determined look on his face and he put his hand on Duo's shoulder. "If... if I hurt you... "

"You won't."

"If I hurt you, make me stop." Heero bravely ended the sentence with a chaste kiss. When he moved away, Heero was trembling. "I liked that." He sounded almost amazed at the revelation.

Duo hugged Heero gently. "Yeah, I liked it, too. When this mission is over, will you spend some private time with me?"

Heero tentatively smiled. "Yes. I would like that."

**Wufei-**

"I am NOT some Middle Ages wench who needs to take pity from the first man who walks by!" Nasty raged. In her very pregnant state she wasn't able to rage very well, but it was good enough to make Wufei take a surprised step away from her. He closed his hand around the ring he'd just offered her. "What do you think you're doing? You wait until I'm as big as an elephant and then you try to catch me? You insensitive jerk!" Tears sprang to her eyes. "Waiting until I'm as fat as a house and then you try to buy me with a ring!"

"But I didn't... "

"Don't interrupt me, you ass!" She wailed, the tears now streaming down her face. "I don't need some boy coming along when you think I'm desperate to be married! I'll have you know I can take care of this baby perfectly well on my own!"

"But... but Nasutei, I only... "

"Only what? Did you even think that I'd want to wear a wedding dress when I look like this? I HATE YOU!" With that, Nasty ran waddled as quickly as she could out of the hanger.

Wufei stared after her. He looked down at his hand, closed over the ring Auntie Fan had given him to give Nasty. He felt his eyes start to burn. Wufei turned sharply and strode to Shen Long, ignoring the hostile glares from the OZ soldiers who'd been present. He'd made her cry.

She was years older than him. She'd just called him a boy. Maybe that was it. She thought he was just playing around. Maybe she wanted an older man. Someone she didn't have to look down at just to look them in the eye.

Wufei slipped the ring back into his pocket and started to climb up Shen Long's leg until he was sitting in the familiar cockpit seat. _She... she doesn't want to marry me._ Wufei's mind was numb. He honestly hadn't thought that she'd say no. _Too young… just a boy… a child compared to her. Damn it! It's only a few years! I'll get taller. Father was almost six foot tall!_

It had taken months to reach this decision. _Auntie Fan even gave me granma's engagement ring._ It was a family heirloom and very precious to the Fan family. Wufei had been honored that Auntie Fan was allowing him to give it to Nasty. _I guess I'll just have to return it.  
_  
Wufei couldn't help the sick feeling that was building in his stomach. He moaned and closed his eyes, trying to seal in a sudden urge to cry. _I... damn! This feels like... the pain... it's just like when Meiran died. It hurts._ Almost inadvertently, Wufei put one hand over her heart and one over his mouth. _What am I going to do? I... I can't go into battle like this! I'll be useless. I thought... I really thought... _Wufei shook his head and took his hand out of his pocket, away from the ring. _I have to make a system's check. Make sure everything's working._ He briskly rubbed his face to rid himself of the threatening tears and started working.

When Wufei looked down at the hanger below, he saw Nasty hugged her brother and kissed his cheek before he set off for his private jet which would be taking him to Japan with the Gundam's following along with several smaller mobile suits carrying regular OZ soldiers. It was only meant to be a small force and Wufei had to compliment Treize on his strategy. There was absolutely no question of success.

"Excuse me! Wufei!"

Wufei looked up at the voice and saw that it was Quatre who'd yelled. Quatre, on his own Gundam, Sandrock, waved cheerily. "I'm coming over!" Apparently, Quatre wasn't one for wasting time, nor did he seem worried that the two other Gundams were between Sandrock and Shen Long. Quatre moved as quickly as a monkey as he scampered up onto Sand Rock's shoulder, then suddenly made a fantastic, impossible leap and soared through the air towards Deathscythe.

Wufei's mouth fell open at the insane stunt.

Wufei's breath caught in his throat. _He's gonna fall!_ The panicked thought shot through Wufei's mind and he knew there was nothing he could do to save Quatre.

Before Wufei's astonished eyes, though, Quatre saved himself by easily catching hold of Deathscythe's shoulder and swinging up onto Deathscythe. Quatre continued on his way over Deathscythe's head and down onto the shoulder nearest to Wing Zero before he jumped again, his arms and legs spreading wide in the air, like he was a flying squirrel. By the time Quatre made it to the shoulder of Wing Zero that was the nearest to Wufei, Wufei had regained his composure. Quatre looked at Wufei and smiled, though he didn't pause before he again leapt through the air and landed on Shen Long's shoulder.

"Aren't you wasting time? You can't let her escape." Quatre said brightly.

Wufei scowled at Quatre. "I don't have time for this nonsense. I have to make sure... "

"You're going to lose her," Quatre warned, shaking his head. "It isn't every day that a women like Nasty comes along, especially for a guy three years younger than she is. That's a pretty big difference, you know."

"Why don't you worry about your own relationships before interfering in mine!"

"I'll have you know Trowa and I are doing perfectly well." Quatre told Wufei pleasantly. His eyes took on a look that said he was lost in a dream and the smile widened. "Last night we even consummated our love... "

"STOP IT!" Wufei snarled.

"But it was wonderful, don't you want to hear?" Quatre gave Wufei a deceptively angelic look. "He was so lovely just laying there under me and I finally... "

"STOP! STOP! STOP!" Wufei turned away from Quatre, hoping that he wasn't blushing as badly as he thought he was. "Don't you have any sense of propriety? I don't want to know!"

"You're no fun." Quatre giggled before his face turned serious and he looked down to where Nasty had left the hanger. "She really is a wonderful person, Wufei. It would be foolish to let her get away."

"She made it pretty clear how she feels!" Wufei snapped, still not looking at Quatre.

"Well, I suppose it might look that way." Quatre said thoughtfully. "But you really have to consider that she's pregnant."

"I KNOW that!"

"Yes, but you also know that pregnancy makes some women overly emotional, don't you? Hormones and all those chemicals running rampant through her system."

Wufei paused and let that thought sink in. Yes, Auntie Fan had said something about that when Nasty had first become pregnant, hadn't she? She'd said that pregnant women were sometimes irrational.

"Besides, if you care about her enough to want to spend the rest of your life with her, isn't it worth a small battle to have her at your side?"

"Battle?"

"You have to fight for what you want in life, Wufei." Quatre said wisely. "You fight for everything, even for love. Why don't you give it another try when she's calmed down?" Quatre suggested, patting Wufei on the shoulder. "Good luck." With that he left the same way he'd come, nearly flying across the Gundams, back to Sandrock.

Slowly, Wufei pulled the small ring back out of his pocket and stared at the tiny, perfect diamond. "Just once more." He muttered to himself. "Just one more try. She's worth fighting for."

**Hours later-  
Treize-**

In the air, in the dead silence of the jet, Treize sat with his eyes closed, trying to control his panic. _If this works, _he told himself in a silent vow. _I'm going to buy pizza for the entire base and then I'm going to let Millardo use that chocolate flavored body paint he wanted to use last time_. _Just don't let me fail and I'll live up to everything I've ever said I'll do. I will change the world._

Treize opened his eyes when the pilot announced over a loud speaker, "Sir, we'll be landing in ten minutes. The crew at the Alliance Headquarters landing field has been notified of our approach."

With the tense atmosphere on the plane, Treize looked at his troopers who were packed into his private jet like sardines. There wasn't nearly enough room to be comfortable, but not a single one of them had complained. "Everyone, listen up!" Treize shouted as the plane prepared to land. "This is going to be a delicate situation, but I know I can trust you all. Remember, this is what you've all been training for. No one is to fire a single shot, unless Zechs or I give the signal. If all goes as expected, this is going to be a peaceful take over and no one will be any the wiser that anything's changed, except those of us who are right here. No one's expecting me to come with this kind of an honor guard, so be prepared for some surprised looks."

He'd have felt better if Zechs had been at his side, but Zechs and Noin were both flying escort in two new mobile suits, Epyon and Altron. Both had been modeled after the Gundams Quatre and his people had brought and had influences from each of them. It was going to be quite the arrival. Instead of the expected jet, there would be a jet plus seven Gundams.

"Sir?" One of the soldiers spoke up, straightening his black armband that marked him as a member of OZ. "Will they resist?"

"They'll try, I expect, but they won't succeed. Just stick to the plan, everyone, and stay calm." Treize dusted imaginary dust from his jacket. _Now if I can just keep myself calm._ "If something unexpected does happen and they've managed to prepare for this, then everyone is to defend themselves and get away as quickly as possible. I'll contact you as soon as I can, but don't go back to Lake Victoria. That's the first place they'd attack."

**Inside the Alliance council chambers-**

"What are you playing at, Treize?" The old woman asked, in a stiffly haughty tone. It was the same cold voice that Treize still heard in nightmares, but this she's wasn't the one in control - he was.

"I don't know what you're talking about, grandmother." Treize grinned at the council of men and women who all sat around a large circular table. There was one conspicuously empty seat and Treize sauntered around the table to stand at that seat. "I thought you'd be pleased to see me."

Septum's body had been discovered, but there was no murderer that anyone could find. Treize knew who the killers were. In fact, both of them were standing not two paces from his back. Duo and Wufei stood with Treize while Heero, Trowa, and Quatre stood at the door, blocking anyone from leaving. Zechs, his gun drawn and ready, was pacing around the table, keeping his eyes firmly on the council members. Most of the guards at the Alliance headquarters had been replaced by OZ soldiers, a fact that the council hadn't been told about, yet.

"Pleased to see you?" Treize's grandmother Kushranada repeated with a sneer. "You were supposed to be in Africa, or so I'd heard. What on Earth's gotten into you? We have important business here."

"So have I," Treize replied easily. He looked around at the people at the table, knowing them as he did and knowing that they were utterly helpless in his remarkably simple plan, lifted the fear from him. A lovely euphoria settled around him.

"Is this about your grandfather Yagiyu?" Treize's grandmother asked. "That old fool had long outlived his usefulness. The only decent thing he ever did was to provide a woman for my son to marry and bear an heir. He was worthless, but at least she was a suitable breed sow."

The cruel words were said almost thoughtlessly and they were words that Treize had heard for most of his life. He honestly believed that his parents had loved each other, but he knew his mother was disliked by his father's family. She was considered lower class simply because her family was not a member of the Romafeller Foundation.

"Forget about getting revenge," Treize's grandmother told him. "It does no good."

For the first time since he'd met his grandmother, Treize allowed himself to say something he'd wanted to say for a very long time. "Grandmother, shut up."

Her face, like a wrinkled prune, puckered up even more than normally and her face turned bright red with fury. "How dare you...!"

"Because I don't like you. You see, I realized something long ago, grandmother. I don't need you. I needed your money to get an education for myself and I needed your money to support me until I was an adult, but I never needed you. I have hated you since the moment I met you at my parent's funeral. They were barely buried when you tore me away from my sister and ended my childhood. You never saw me as anything more than a tool."

Her expression was less than hurt. "It took you all these years to figure that out? I really didn't expect you to be that stupid, but I guess there's only so much that can be done with you. You were a simple-minded boy and you haven't changed. Do you think I care if you hate me or not?"

"No, but I wanted to say it. There's nothing you can do to hurt me now, so I can say anything I damned well please. I think you're a lizard with all the warmth and kindness of a rock. As for the rest of you gentlemen, and I use the term loosely," Treize turned and addressed the startled councilmen. "I could easily see you all squashed under the foot of a Gundam and not shed a tear. If the world were to end tomorrow, I'd be happy because it would mean that all you money-sucking leeches had died."

"You shouldn't be here, Treize." One of the councilmen said coldly. "You've had your fun, now leave. Your photo shoot isn't for another week or so. Go back to whatever little games you were playing with OZ."

Treize laughed and practically tasted victory. "I've decided I want to be the game master, gentlemen. I'm tired of being the pawn. Don't you see? This is my game now."

"Have you gone mad? What are you babbling about?" A third councilman said.

"Only this," Treize didn't bother to turn his head as he yelled out, "Gentlemen, I need some assistance in here."

Instantly, the three pilots stepped aside and the doors of the council room were thrown open and two dozen OZ soldiers, dressed proudly in grey and black with guns held at the ready, marched in.

The three councilmen stared, dumbfounded, before rounding on Treize. "What the Hell do you think you're doing! Do you think the world will stand still for this..."

"What? Do you mean the world that you're well on your way to destroying? Thanks to the Alliance there are more than two million people dead who didn't have to die. I intend to do my best to fix this little problem our government seems to have." Treize motioned for his soldiers to surround the table. "The world won't even notice a change."

"You mean a coup?" One of the councilmen stood indignantly, only to find Private Marcus' gun to his head.

"Sit down!" Private Marcus ordered sharply. "His Excellency didn't give you leave to stand!"

The man sat down again very quickly. "What makes you think you can just take over? The army..."

"Will do nothing. Don't you understand? This isn't a coup or a revolution or even a war." Treize sat forward with a very satisfied grin. "I have been in control of Earth and the colonies since I turned nineteen. You put me in this position, gentlemen, and you made this little revolution so easy. I am merely taking charge of what you have given me. The whole world, including the military of the Alliance, has always believed that I was the ruler of the world. I am no figurehead. From this moment on, I AM the Alliance. You have all being given transfers that better suit your talents."

"What are you talking about?"

Treize spoke, looking at each person in turn to make sure they were listening. "You are all far too talented to be kept cooped up in this old building. The Alliance will flourish much more if you go out into the world and serve the people. You, Tubarov, you will be going to colony A0206 and help the rebuilding effort. After the shameful attack by my OZ troops, I feel it's my duty to give them whatever aid they need."

Tubarov, a tall, gaunt man with a nose like a hawk's hooked beak, paled. "What rebuilding effort? The colony's in ruins, better to just scrap it..." He froze when there was a sharp sound of metal against metal when Wufei drew his sword and held it at Tubarov's neck.

"I'm sure you don't mean that," Wufei said with a deadly quiet voice. Treize was actually impressed with Wufei's amount of self-restraint in that he didn't immediately kill Tubarov.

"No, no, of course not. I'll help build with my own two hands, if I have to."

"Oh, you will." Trieze smiled. "There aren't any heavy machines left on A0206 anymore, from what I'm told. You'll be building with a hammer and a nail. I'll be leaving orders that you aren't allowed to leave the colony until the head of the Long Family, the colony's controlling family, decides that your work is done." It was more than that, really. Tubarov would never leave A0206 alive, and that was only if he was lucky enough not to be killed the moment he arrived. They were very upset with the Alliance.

"You won't get away with this!"

"Ah, Dekim, but I will. I already have. It was laughably easy. You see, I will find and appoint other advisors to my council and they will guide me as I need it. You've all done too well. You wanted the world and even the army to believe I was in control and they do. All your hard work and planning to fool everyone and keep yourselves safe has only worked for me. Everyone on this planet and the colonies believes I control everything, I'm only making their belief reality." Treize thought a moment. "Now, where shall I put you, Dekim? Hmmm...I think L2 would suit your abilities."

Dekim started to shake and looked as if he'd faint for a moment. "L2? But... but the plague... "

"A plague which I believe was caused by the Alliance testing of chemical weapons, was it not? Yes, it's our duty to help clean up that mess. I'll even make you a bargain. As soon as a cure to that plague is found and successfully distributed, then you'll be brought back to Earth. If you haven't caught the plague yourself, that is." Treize gave Dekim a vicious smile. "I think I can expect you to work very hard, can't I?"

"Y-yes, sir." Dekim replied, numbly.

Treize's grandmother wasn't nearly so ready to just give in. She stood so abruptly that the chair she'd been sitting in was thrown back and she glared at Treize. "You insolent boy, what makes you think you can just come in here and start issuing orders? I could call in one of the regular Alliance soldiers, despite your incompetent OZ," She turned her hateful glare on Private Marcus before addressing Treize again. "I'll tell them you've lost your mind and who do you think they'd believe? A cruel dictator who is well known for ordering attacks on defenseless people or me?"

Treize didn't conceal a smirk, but he didn't answer. It was Zechs who answered, but raising his gun and leveling it at her. "And what's to stop me from shooting you right here and telling the world you were a traitor against our glorious leader? Do you think I won't do it because you're an old woman? Don't pin your hopes on that." The safety on Zechs' gun audibly clicked off, making Treize's grandmother close her mouth, though she didn't sit down.

"If it's the last thing I do," Treize's grandmother hissed. "I'll see you destroyed."

"Good luck without your money."

"What?"

"Oh, did I forget to tell you?" Treize went to stand next to Zechs. "One of my men has transferred all your money to my account. You're a pauper." Treize looked around him at the pale faced politicians with a wide smile. "That goes for all of you. You've all just become penniless. Don't worry, you'll be able to earn more money if you work hard at your new jobs."

Treize's grandmother was livid. "Thief!" She accused, barely able to get the word out without spitting.

At the very best, Treize was mildly amused. "Thief? Is that the best insult you can do? You've pretty much demonized me and all you can call me is a thief?" Dramatically, Treize covered his heart with his hand. "Oh, how my heart does break." Then he spoke to everyone again. "You will all have similar new posts. If I ever get even the slightest suspicions that any of you is trying to regain power or get revenge for your lost dignity, I'll have you killed without hesitation. Now, get out. The sight of you makes me sick."

In the end, the council room was emptied and Treize sat on the windowsill, watching as his OZ soldiers below escorted the former councilmen into the waiting shuttles to take them to their various new positions in life.

"That went well." Trowa commented, drawing Treize's attention back to the boys who were his bodyguards. Throughout the past few months Treize had gotten to know the boys better and he was more than satisfied with his decision of giving them jobs. He really couldn't find anyone better than these five.

"Yes." Treize replied, again looking out the window, but this time seeing the setting sun. "Yes, it went very well. I think we should go home, now." Treize stood abruptly. "This place isn't very comfortable and I want to sleep in my own bed tonight."

Treize took one last look out the window and he saw the car his grandmother was getting into. Car number five. She, unlike the others, wouldn't be receiving a new duty. No. he couldn't afford to let her live - she was far too dangerous. She was all too likely to make good on her threat and he couldn't allow that. She would endanger his little sister and Zechs and all of the people who depended on him. That menace would not be permitted.

Below, after closing the car door for Grandmother Kushranada, the driver looked up to where Treize stood. He saluted sharply, waited properly for Treize to salute in return, then got in the car and drove away. The driver was an OZ soldier, a trusted man treize had known for a good long while. He was ruthless and loyal. He would do as he'd been ordered and he would ensure that, shortly, Grandmother Kushranada would not be a problem.

**Lake Victoria-**

Kay-

Kay silently walked into the room behind Mama Fan and she was certain she couldn't blush any harder than she was when her brothers turned to look at her. She longed to cover herself with something – anything! Mama Fan had assured her that the clothes were perfectly respectable and that they would help her to keep cool in the hot African afternoon. Still… her legs were almost completely bare! Nasty had gotten the short trousers from somewhere; shorts, they were called. The shirt was no better. Her arms were exposed almost right from her shoulders. She saw other people dressed in such skimpy clothing and knew that she had to dress like modern people if she wanted to fit in, but it just didn't feel proper.

Rajura made a choking sound and turned his face away from her. Ryou blushed darkly and stared at her with wide eyes until Anubisu snapped at him not to stare. Even Anubisu looked like he wanted to yell. But it had been agreed upon that she couldn't wear her heavy robes in the brutal heat and Mama Fan had been very persuasive when she'd told them it would be easier for Kay to make friends if she dressed in a more modern fashion.

Kay swallowed hard and lifted her chin, determined to push away the awkwardness. She noticed someone was missing almost at once from the large party of people going to the nearby village. Ryou's four friends were going with them as well as Nasutei, Rajura, Anubisu, Shark, and Catherine. It was all set to be a fine outing. "Rajura, where's Naaza?"

"He's not feeling well," Rajura answered discreetly. "He'll be staying here today, but don't worry, he said he'd come next time."

It was only then that Kay remembered what time of year it was and, honestly! She could have cursed herself for not remembering! Shedding. She cringed at what she knew he was going through. Every year, just the serpents he was so close to, his skin peeled off. It was a painful, messy process that would most likely take several days to work though. Kay had only once seen him in the course of shedding; it wasn't something he liked others to see and he tended to seclude himself during the process, even from his beloved family. It was utterly unthinkable that he would deliberately go into public and among people he hardly knew during his shedding time.

So, leaving Naaza behind, they all set off into the jungle surrounding the large grassy plains that Lake Victoria was built on. Shark, who knew the area better than almost anyone, led the way with Catherine following very closely. Kay wasn't sure why the two women had become so close so quickly, but she'd often seen them talking together in soft voices and she was pleased for them.

Shin had laughed when Catherine hadn't been around. "It's about time she got involved with someone," Shin had said, laying down on the sofa with his head in Touma's lap. "Now she won't worry about me so much."

It would have been very easy for them to use a couple of jeeps to get through the forest, but, strangely, it was Nasty who'd rejected that idea.

"You'll be more comfortable riding." Rajura had advised her when he heard she wanted to walk.

"Rubbish," Nasty said, tying her long hair back with a ribbon. "Shark tells me it's not far and I've never been in Africa. I'm more than a month away from my due date and I need the exercise. We've been here for months and I haven't had a chance to see anything of it. Treize talks about Africa all the time, so I want to see a little of the area, too?"

**Tauragi Village-**

Mukara-

Mukara had listened to Dorothy's words for a great long while as he tried to decide what he should do. Naria had been very firm when she said he should leave the Kuroi Kikoutei asleep in its crystal cavern, but the thought of having someone to fight as strong and as skilled as he was made for a very tempting prospect.

"They're a group of warriors and together they possess the opposite of your own armor," Dorothy had said as she sat with him at the mouth of the crystal cavern where Kuroi Kikoutei slept until Mukara woke it for battle.

He wanted to; very badly did Mukara want to call the night black armor and hold his mighty weapon in his hands again. It would be good to have a real battle again. In all of the time Mukara had donned the armor, he had never once fought a worthy opponent. Always before, his enemies had fallen before him like sheep to a lion. It was too easy.

Mukara had always loved fighting, even when he'd been a young child. Like all of the Tauragi people, Mukara had been raised seeking the illustrious position of being the one to wear the Kuroi Kikoutei. Mukara still remembered when he'd been so much younger and he'd run races with the other boys, how good it had felt to beat them all without even breaking a sweat. Of course, back then, he had blushed to find young Naria smiling sweetly at his victory. The most beautiful maiden in the village, Naria had been born into the position of high priestess of the Kuroi Kikoutei. She was doomed to be married to the man chosen to be the Kuroi Kikoutei's avatar.

_Perhaps that's why I tried so hard. _Mukara mused as he watched the village below him and tried to listen to what Dorothy was telling him. _If I hadn't earned the right to wear the Kuroi Kikoutei, if I hadn't been the strongest, the fastest, the best of all my people, then she would have married another. _That, Mukara had known for a long time, was unacceptable. _Naria is mine. If I'm weak, someone else will claim the right to have her. I must always be the strongest._

But there was also the simple joy he found in fighting and it made him angry that Naria would deny him that pleasure. _It's not as if I have many times to test my skills and this is a chance I can't miss. Something as equally powerful as the Kuroi Kikoutei and it's coming right towards us. _He looked into the dark cavern, knowing from the pull he could feel in his heart that Kuroi Kikoutei wanted to wake.

Making up his mind, Mukara stood and started walking into the cavern. _What my god wants, it shall get. If I don't obey it, it will choose another and I'll lose Naria. This way, I'll fight and I'll keep Naria._

"Are you going to do it?" Dorothy called from where she was still sitting outside the cavern. There was no eagerness or anticipation in her voice and that alone made Mukara turn to look at her. She was very beautiful, no one could deny that, but there was something wrong with her. He couldn't quite pinpoint it, but there was something in her eyes...

"Why do you wish me to fight?" Mukara's voice was harsh with disuse, but he felt he had to ask. "You know of Kuroi Kikoutei, but you are not anxious. Not the least fearful of it. Why is it so urgent to you that I fight?'

Dorothy turned her face to look at him. "For the same reason you wish to fight. I want to see if you're really as strong as I've been told. I want to see if you can defeat the Shiro Kikoutei. After that, why, I'd like to see if the world really will end."

It was as good a reason as any, Mukara supposed. He turned and continued walking into the resting place of the Kuroi Kikoutei. Naria couldn't forbid him to do this if she didn't know.

**Kay-**

When they walked into the village, Kay was suddenly washed over with a sense of something... familiar. Evil.

She didn't like the feeling and clung to Anubisu's hand as she started looking around. It seemed ordinary enough, except for the people. Kay found herself staring at the dark skinned people. She'd never seen people with such dark, brown skin. They went about their lives until one of them saw the approaching group and shouted something to another of the people.

Kay let her hand slip out of Anubisu's and she stopped walking just as they entered the village and were surrounded by a group of the people, all trying to get a close look at them. _Something's... not right._ Kay looked around at all the unfamiliar faces, and could find nothing wrong. Not a single person was armed with more than a small knife and none of them even looked unhappy or angry.

"Kay," Anubisu put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a slight nudge to bring her forward. "Keep up, I don't want you to get lost."

The people around them suddenly stopped talking and, as if by some unheard signal, the crowd parted and revealed a small woman with pale blue hair. She was dressed in very bright clothes and had an air of authority around her.

"Greetings," The blue haired woman said, bowing her head slightly. "I am Naria, the high priestess of this village. Mr. Kushranada has informed us that you were coming for a visit. I hope you feel welcome in our home." It was as simple as that and they were welcomed into the village. Everyone was made welcome to spread out and see everything, though Rajura caught Kay's eye and warned her softly to keep in sight and scream if she needed him.

As they all split up and Kay found herself on her own, she found herself ready to scream at any moment. Something was terribly wrong. Fear that had begun as a sort of soft worry at the back of her mind was quickly creeping all through her body. She could feel her heart beating against her chest and she kept glancing around, trying to find what was frightening her.

It wasn't that woman, Naria, who was making Kay feel so frightened, nor did it feel like it was any of the people in the village. _I can't just say something feels wrong, _Kay thought, biting her lip as the fear closed made it almost impossible to speak anyway. It was almost as if there was a hand tightening around her throat. _They couldn't do anything just because I have a feeling. What do I do? _Kay really wanted to leave, but they'd come all this way for her sake. This whole trip was because Mama Fan was worried about her, she couldn't just ask to leave.

"Something wrong?" The voice spoke almost directly in Kay's ear and she jumped at hearing it, expecting to see one of the dark skinned villagers at her side. She was surprised at who she did see.

The speaker was a man, a very beautiful white haired man with skin as pale as moonlight. Strangely enough, Kay's first thought when she saw this man was how much he looked like Rajura. Stranger still was the fact that no one else seemed to notice him and Kay was pretty sure he was out of place in a village where everyone had such dark skin. He wasn't even close enough to Kay to touch her, let alone to whisper into her ear. Several paces away, sitting at the base of a tree with his legs stretched out in front of him, the man looked completely at ease. He wasn't even dressed like one of these dark skinned people, but had armor like Kay's brothers had and a green cape with a bright red lining.

"I..." Kay wasn't sure what she should say to the stranger. While she'd been living with them, she'd learned lots of things from Ryou and Duo's new friends and one of the rules Wufei and Mama Fan had impressed upon her was that she should never talk to people she didn't know. "I should go. My brothers are waiting for me." A look over her shoulder told Kay that they hadn't even realized she'd wandered a short distance away, yet. If they saw her talking to a stranger they might get mad...

"Don't worry about your brothers," The man said. Even sitting, Kay thought he looked very big. In that one way, he didn't look at all like Rajura. Rajura was far smaller and lither whereas this man was very powerful looking with strong arms and even a thick, muscular neck. He smiled kindly at Kay, though it looked a bit strained, as if he hadn't done it for a very long time. "I'm no danger to you, child."

"They'll get mad if I don't go back." Kay took a step backwards. Wufei always told her that strangers were dangerous and that she could get hurt if she went anywhere without her brothers.

"I'm not a stranger." The man's voice was smooth and kind. "I know all of your brothers and even saw you once. You weren't really paying attention to me, though." He leaned back against the tree he was sitting next to and looked up into the branches. "You can call me Hariel, Kayura. A moment ago, you looked frightened, almost. Would you like a word of advice?"

"Umm... sure." How did he know her name? Maybe he'd spoken to one of her brothers? But Rajura and the others were still a fair distance away and weren't even looking in her direction.

The fear that had been growing minute by minute after Kay had entered the village was slowly becoming full-fledged panic. Tears sprang to Kay's eyes, even though she knew she should be stronger than this. She was a warrior and she couldn't afford to get scared like a little child! Wrapping her arms around herself, Kay's eyes started darting around again, wishing she knew what the problem was. She didn't care if she looked like a fool anymore, Kay needed Rajura. She opened her mouth to scream for him, but nothing came out. She was too frightened to even scream.

Hariel stood up and towered over Kay like a giant loomed over a helpless ant. "It's too much for you, isn't it? Shall I help?" He took hold of his green cape with one hand and, with a flourish, threw it over Kay's shoulders.

The fear vanished so suddenly when the weight of the cape settled on her shoulders that it almost staggered Kay. She blinked and took a deep, calming breath. "What's happening?" She asked, looking up at Hariel. She was grateful that he'd somehow stopped the fear - no matter what Mama Sh'ten had always said, Kay didn't like being afraid - but it felt very awkward being so close to a man she didn't even know.

"You're memories are being awakened. There's something here that you're afraid of, but you don't quite remember what it is," Hariel answered easily. He took her by the arm and led her around the tree he'd been sitting under until they were out of view from the rest of the village. "Are you all right, now?"

"Yes." Kay nodded, still not understanding. She had no doubt that this was magic, but she didn't understand why.

Hariel put an armored hand up and brushed it over her long hair. "You are very beautiful for such a young child. It is no wonder my son guards you so viciously." He sighed. "Never mind that. These memories you're suffering from, whatever they are, I've blocked them for the moment to allow you to think clearly. If I take my cape away from you, the feeling of fear will keep increasing until the memories fight their way free. It will be very painful for you."

Kay frowned up at him. "Are you going to make me remember?"

"I think it's for the best, don't you?"

"I guess so. I probably know what's making me afraid and if there's something dangerous, I should tell Rajura, huh?"

"It would be a good idea. What a brave girl you are." His voice was admiring and he even offered Kay a small smile. "Brave and beautiful, what a glorious empress you would be."

Kay frowned at that, but she didn't ask what he meant, there was no time. "Do it quickly, please."

Hariel jerked the cape off Kay's shoulder without another word and the fear came back so suddenly that Kay managed a choked cry before she went dumb again. It came so suddenly, that she started to fall forwards as images began flashing before her eyes. She was dimly aware that Hariel had caught her and lowered her to the ground. Hariel looked down at Kay with sad eyes, but his lovely face faded away replaced by things Kay had hoped to never remember.

**Flashback-**

A world of mist with nothing but killing. Not killing for justice or glory or honor, just killing. Killing. Without emotion without hope or fear, the figures in Kay's memory went on and on fighting, shedding blood until the misty battlefield was red, as looking someone had painted it.

Someone was holding Kay's shoulders and when she tried to look away from the carnage, a hard hand gripped her chin and forced her to watch. "Open your eyes, ningen," The voice ordered. "Open your eyes and see them. I'll peel your eyelids off if you don't do as I say. Open your eyes and learn. This is what you'll become. A warrior devoid of all desire, but that of fighting. You will fight for love of battle, nothing else."

Kay reluctantly opened her eyes and she saw what Saranbo wished her to see. The horrific scene was more barbaric than anything ever seen on Ningen Sekai. Two of the warriors met and Kay focused on them, one in white armor, shining like sunlight, and the other in armor as black as midnight. They met with a clash of fire and the terrible sound of metal scraping against metal.

"You see?" Saranbo gave a wicked laugh and he lowered his head until he put his face against her cheek. "They are beyond us. So far beyond the Youja Kai that they don't hate or fear or love. They don't feed on anything but fighting. I will strike down Arago with this power. All those who think themselves more powerful than I, I will destroy them with you. They," he gestured to the fighting warriors. "They are uncontrollable. You, however... I think you will be a perfect warrior once I've trained you properly."

Kay screamed.

**End flashback-**

Naria-

"You're sure this will work?" Naria asked. "I don't approve of hurting children." She stepped out from where she'd silently stood and watched Kenbukyou's interaction with the little girl and now looked down at the child's rigid body, concerned.

Kenbukyou, without his cape, now, nodded. He wore his helmet again and watched with seeming coldness as Kay stared up at the sky with eyes that saw something terrible in her own memories and her mouth was open in a silent scream. "The process of reawakening her memories lasted only a moment, her screams were because of those memories. She had a few, before, but they were dim and like nightmares, not real. I have made them real for her and now she will be better able to help fight." Kenbukyou shook his cape and let it fall over the little girl, the red side up.

Naria glared at Kenbukyou. "You won't help in their fight, will you?"

"No," He answered simply. "One of Shiro Kikoutei's warriors is dead and one is a distance away. If they are able to summon Shiro Kikoutei, I will be surprised. Once, they were able to call it, bringing the Oni yoroi back from the dead, but that was in the Youja Kai and the Oni yoroi had its bearer's body close. I don't know if they'll be able to do that here. They will need the child to fight. I'm sure she's the only one who understands."

Naria couldn't help but feel pity for the tiny girl. "But why won't you help? Surely, as you are the emperor of the Youja Kai..."

"It would do no good. The Kuroi Kikoutei has awakened and wields the power of a god. I don't have the power to fight it, no single creature in this world does. There is only one way to match it and that is with its twin, the Shiro Kikoutei. We can not match it."

"You speak as if you have first hand knowledge of the two Kikoutei."

"No. Only the Shiro Kikoutei. Once, so long ago, I was the bearer of the Shiro Kikoutei, before that monk divided it." He gave Naria a soft look before his raised the helmet and slipped it back onto his head. "I know the addiction and the pain that come from carrying so great a weight. Don't be hard on your lover, he is hardly in control of himself at the moment."

Naria looked up at the hilltop where she knew Mukara had gone with that woman, Dorothy. Now, she could only see Dorothy outside the cavern entrance and she knew that Mukara had gone within to summons the god, Kuroi Kikoutei. "He has always been single minded, in everything. I hoped he would listen to me this once, but... he has always followed his own mind." Naria swallowed a hard lump in her throat and shook her head to rid herself of the tears that were threatening. "I will do what I have to in order to rid the world of this danger. Even if it costs me him."

"How do you plan to do that?"

Naria allowed herself a small smile. "That monk you spoke of is not the only mystic with powers. I have a few secrets of my own."

Whatever the little girl had been seeing must have finally gotten to be too much for her as Kay suddenly took a deep breath and let out an ear piercing scream. Even as her scream ripped the air, Kenbukyou took Naria by the arm. "We should leave. It's beginning." At his words, the earth beneath them began to shake and Naria knew that the Kuroi Kikoutei had awakened.

**Nasty-**

Nasty heard Kay scream and instantly looked up, searching for the little girl in the crowd of people. She saw the others doing the same thing, but couldn't see Kay anywhere. "Kay!" Nasty cried out, cupping her hand around her mouth. "Kay! Where are you?"

Kay didn't answer, but her terrified screams continued to rip through the air. The earth shook, almost making Nasty fall. "Great!" Nasty growled, making her way away from the people with whom she'd been speaking. "An earthquake, that's all we need! Kay!"

The earthquake didn't help as everyone started running the moment it had started. Nasty was nearly knocked from her feet by terrified people who were running into the surrounding jungle as fast as they could. It wasn't long before the village was deserted, but for Nasty's companions, and the rumbling of the Earthquake stopped very suddenly.

"Kay!" Rajura's desperate voice grew nearer as he and the others called for the still screaming Kay. There was another of her high-pitched screams and in an instant all of her friends were running towards her voice.

A dull throbbing in her abdomen caused Nasty to freeze. She put a hand to her stomach. "Oh, no., She muttered. "Not now. It's too early. It can't be now." But the dull throbbing was ignoring Nasty and she winced as it grew into a stabbing pain for just a moment before dulling again. "No, no, no," Nasty hissed through clenched teeth. "It's not supposed to happen like this. I...~gasp~ I wanted Wufei and Trieze with me." Nasty looked up again and saw everyone crowded around a tree, looking at the ground. No one had noticed her yet. "Oh, God..." Nasty opened her mouth to scream, but it was just then that another contraction hit and all that came out of her mouth was a moan of pain.

Someone took her arm and Nasty looked up to find Naria smiling at her. "Why don't you lay down and rest. I think it's time for your child to join us."

"No," Nasty protested. "It's not time!"

Naria laughed. "Your child knows when is the right time. Don't be afraid."

"But...but I wanted...I," Nasty couldn't help it when she started to cry. "I wanted Wufei with me! I was so horrible to him and I didn't mean it! I was just...I just..."

"Shhhh," Narai whispered comfortingly as she helped Nasty to lay down. Over head the sky grew dark very suddenly. "What? An eclipse?" Nasty looked up and saw a dark shape slide quickly over the sun.

"No." Naria knelt beside Nasty, but she looked up at the quickly vanishing sun. "That's no eclipse."

Just then, Catherine and Shark arrived and Naria moved away so Nasty's other friends could get closer. Catherine looked worried for her and Shark, as she usually did, was looking around with her gun in her hand.

"I can't raise anyone at the base," Shark growled, throwing her communicator to the ground. "There's some kind of interference. Don't worry," Shark gave Nasty her best reassuring smile, but it wasn't very good. Shark was far better suited for yelling and throwing orders around than she was at keeping people calm and happy. When Shark finally looked at Nasty, Nasty could see the fear in the older woman's eyes. "I'll find a way to get you back to the base."

Catherine snapped, "Stop it, Maryanne! You're scaring her!" Shin's gentle sister knelt down next to Nasty, but she didn't look like she had any idea of what to do, either.

"Well, I don't know what else to say!" Shark replied sharply, though she kept a hand on Catherine's shoulder. "I'm no midwife... huh?" Her tone changed abruptly as she noticed something in the distance and squinted her eyes to get a closer look. "What's that?"

**Rajura-**

By the time they'd found Kay, she was laying flat on her back and staring up at the sky with her mouth wide open from screaming. Her entire body was rigid and her hands were clenched so hard that her fingernails had been driven into the palms of her hands, making them bleed.

"Kay!" Rajura fell to his knees beside her, but he honestly didn't know what to do for her. NAAZA, WE NEED...

I KNOW. I'M COMING! DAMN IT, I SHOULDN'T HAVE LET YOU GO OFF WITH OUT ME!

The earthquake stopped as abruptly as it had started, but the silence of the Earth made Kay's screams sound all the louder. They tried to wake her from whatever nightmare held her in thrall, but her eyes were unseeing and it was as if she didn't know they were with her. Everyone tried talking to her, shaking her, but nothing worked and she just stared at some horror only she could see.

"Everyone, get back!" Naaza's voice snapped and, without hesitation, everyone did as Naaza commanded. He looked as bad as always; no one could really look good with their skin peeling away from their face. Naaza knelt at Kay's side and looked her over quickly before his eyes landed on the cape she was laying on. "Who does this belong to?" He asked, not taking his eyes from Kay.

Rajura didn't have an answer for him. In all honesty, he'd been so worried about Kay that... that...

Rajura stood up straight and looked around. They were being watched. Almost in unison, all of Rajura's fellow warriors fell silent and started to look around, also and Rajura knew they could all feel that something was wrong. Well... not wrong, exactly. It just wasn't quite right.

Ring.

The sound of chimes drew everyone's attention to a man who stepped out from behind one of the village huts. "Greetings." The man was a monk and carried a long staff that radiated with power. A flat, reed hat obscured his face, but it was the man's voice that caught Rajura's attention most of all. His voice didn't sound quite human and he knew, though Anubisu, that the man didn't smell human, either.

Ryou was the first one to speak and his voice was low with an angry growl. "YOU!" Ryou jabbed a finger at the monk accusingly.

"You know him?" Shin asked, his voice sounding strained as he spoke over Kay's screaming.

Shin never got his answer, because the monk chose that moment to move forward and raise his staff over Kay's body. Ryou, who didn't seem to like this person at all, attacked. With his teeth bared and his eyes narrowed, Ryou charged the monk, looking as if he was ready to rip the monk's throat out. "I remember you! You made me reach into the fire! You threatened Duo!" Ryou's hands, which were curled into almost claws, never made contact with the monk as he seemed to hit an invisible shield around the monk.

"You fight the wrong enemy," The monk said softly. The tip of his ornate staff began to glow brightly and the only reason Rajura didn't try to kill the monk was because Kay stopped screaming. Everyone looked at her and found that her entire body had relaxed in the light of the staff. "Your opponent is here, but I warn you." The monk's voice hardened. "You won't defeat him with the yoroi."

Kay's eyes flashed open and she sat up quickly enough to startle everyone. "Who are you?" There was something in her eyes that Rajura didn't like. It was the same looked she'd had just after she'd been rescued from Saranbo, a haunted look.

"I have been called to your side, Kayura." He gave a slight bow to her. "You know what you must do." With that, the monk handed her his staff and vanished before their eyes. The staff looked far too big for such a small girl as Kay to wield; yet she held it easily and confidently. For a moment, Kay just stared at the immense staff in her hands. Then, with a determined look, Kay jumped to her feet and turned to glare up at a nearby hillside.

"Come," Kay said, forcefully. "Whatever you all do, do not call your yoroi. We can't risk that. See, he's there." She raised the staff and pointed, causing everyone to look at as well.

It was then that they saw their enemy. He stood on a rocky hillside, looking down at them and the power... oh the power that rolled off him. Rajura gasped, just looking at the awesome figure that stood above them, clad in black armor. How strange. Rajura could have sworn that it was the Kikoutei, but that wasn't possible.

It couldn't be possible.

With one great leap, the person in black armor jumped from his high vantage-point down to the ground, just in front of Rajura, who, of course, stood in front of his family. He held no sword, or any weapon that Rajura recognized, but had an immense piece of wood, carved into a shape that was almost a crescent moon that reached nearly eight feet long. He did nothing but look at them, waiting.

Rajura knew they were going to have to fight, despite what the monk and Kay had said. The raw power from this warrior was amazing and they couldn't defeat him without using their yoroi. There was, strangely, no sense of malevolence from this warrior. There was no sense of anything from him, really. He was simply... there. The sheer power of this new enemy was almost overwhelming and Rajura yearned for the safety of the Gen Yoroi. In fact, Rajura was beginning to doubt that they would be able to defeat him without Kikoutei and, at the moment, they had only eight of the nine armors yoroi needed to form Kikoutei.

Reaching into his shirt collar, Rajura pulled out a chain with a small leather bag tied to it. As he kept his eyes on his enemy, Rajura opened the leather bag and let its contents roll out onto the palm of his hand. The orb of the Oni Yoroi, that Rajura had planned to one day return Sh'ten once he was reborn. Rajura's eyes went to Kay, but she seemed to know what he was thinking.

"No!" Kay said sharply. "I won't take it! That's for mama Sh'ten."

"We need to destroy him." Rajura wasn't sure how he knew this, but something deep inside him was telling him it was so. So far the black armored warrior had done nothing other than just stare at them. He hadn't attacked or even made any threats, but something deep inside of Rajura's soul, he was very sure that this person had to be killed.

Kay turned her back on the Kuroi Kikoutei. "I refuse to use the Oni Orb."

"What are you doing?" Rajura demanded, poised to call his own yoroi. "Kay!"

**Kay-**

"No!" Kay whirled around, clutching the green cape Hariel had given to her, afraid that if she lost it, she would lose her courage to do what she knew had to be done. She'd never so openly defied Rajura before. "You don't understand, you don't know the whole story! The black and white yoroi aren't what you think they are, they're more than just magic and metal. They live! They desire! I won't give them what they want, if I have to sacrifice us all, I won't give in. You don't understand what's at stake. It's not just our lives!"

Anubisu asked, "What are you talking about? Kay, you're not making any sense?"

"There are three worlds," Kay tried to explain as much as she could as quickly as she could. "There is the Ningen Sekai, the Youja Kai, and a third one. The yoroi come from that world... it's horrible. It's an endless nightmare. Saranbo showed it to me. He took me to that world with nothing but war and death and smoke, he made me stay there and that's how he turned me into... into... " Kay's voice trembled and trailed away as she remembered what she'd done in battle against her own brothers. She'd seen so much of the carnage and joy in fighting that when Saranbo had brought her out of that evil world, Kay found herself enjoying battle and killing. She remembered thinking how grand it was that she was going to kill Duo. Kay shook her head and looked at the Kuroi Kikoutei. She turned to glare over her shoulder at the Kuroi Kikoutei. "I will NOT let you bring that world to Earth! I'll fight with my own bare hands and die now before I'll help you!" Kay charged Kuroi Kikoutei, ready to die.

It was the memory of what Saranbo had shown her, the horror of a world with no desire except to kill, that made Kay only too ready to sacrifice. She thought of her brothers in a world with no hope for the peace they'd always dreamed of and she thought of Nasty trying to raise her baby in such a world that made Kay forget her fear. _I won't let it happen. I love them all too much. I'm ready to die for them._

Of course, her attack was useless. Worse than useless, really. The Kuroi Kikoutei barely blinked as he swung his immense boomerang and struck Kay in the ribs, knocking her aside so violently that she blacked out before she hit the ground and was woke moments later to find Byakuen and Kokuen-oh standing over her.

**Dorothy-**

Dorothy watched the beginnings of the battle far below without emotion, wondering how it would turn out. From what Badamon and Saranbo had told her, there was no way the others could win without combining their strengths into the Shiro Kikoutei and that little girl had refused to fight.

"I suppose this won't do much good," Dorothy said out loud, not caring that her two companions were watching the battle, enraptured. Logic dictated that the Kuroi Kikoutei would win this battle, so Dorothy stood up and walked away from where Badamon and Saranbo watched intently. Didn't they know the outcome all ready? Why bother wasting time and energy on a certain fate?

Dorothy had thought to simply walk around the cavern Mukara had said the sleeping Kuroi Kikoutei rested in, and make her way out of the area. There was no sense in risking her life for this battle that would no doubt reach titanic proportions. Then she stopped, a short distance from the two demons, and thought, _But if I stay and watch the battle, it might be frightening. That could be interesting. Maybe I'll be scared. Yes...that would be good. Even if I die, I'll get to feel something._

So Dorothy turned to watch, just in time to see Saranbo fall to the ground as his armored body was sliced in half and Badamon vanished in a puff of smoke. Just beyond where they'd been standing, Dorothy saw the priestess, Naria, and another armored warrior whose face was completely masked. The two looked at Dorothy hard. The armored warrior had two swords raised in front of him, though he certainly didn't act as if he were afraid of Dorothy.

"You're comrades are banished," Naria said, stepping fearlessly over the body of Saranbo. "What do you intend to do?"

"Do?" Dorothy repeated, raising one eyebrow. "What should I do? I suppose you'll kill me now. A waste."

Naria raised her hands and her eyes narrowed. "These hands destroyed a demon, do you know how difficult that is? Even the Kikoutei would not be able to accomplish such a thing. Saranbo has been banished back to the Youja Kai, but Badamon is destroyed and will never return to existence. I can do the same to you. I won't kill you; I'll destroy your soul. There will never be a chance for you to gain redemption, ever."

Dorothy shrugged. "So?"

Naria's eyes widened. "You honestly don't care?" For a moment, her eyes flashed a pale yellow. "Yes, I believe you do mean it." Her hands lowered a bit and her voice softened. "How very sad for you."

"Don't waste your pity on me," Dorothy told her evenly. "It does no good." Then she fell silent and waited, wondering if, in that moment between life and death, she would finally feel something. She wondered which of them would kill her.

Strangely, the armored man stepped forward until Dorothy had to look almost straight up to look at him. "You feel nothing?"

"I feel physical pain and pleasure, but nothing emotional."

"I can change that."

Dorothy blinked. "Oh?"

"You have done such terrible things, that should you die, you have earned a rightful place in whatever Hell you believe in. Your punishments would be most unpleasant. Still, I doubt that hold any meaning for you. You must be taught to fear and other emotions. I think I will bring you to the Youja Kai."

Naria looked puzzled. "Are you certain you want to do that? She's very dangerous and clever."

"As are most demons in my world. She is little different. I had hoped to bring the child, Kayura, to the Youja Kai to be empress after me, but she is happy here. I won't take her from her family. You, though," he looked at Dorothy and raised one gauntleted hand to touch Dorothy's face. "You will be a fine empress for the demons when I choose to die."

"How strange," Dorothy commented. "You want to reward my... evil?"

"Evil is an objective word. I am Emperor Kenbukyou, Dorothy. You are mine." He clapped a large, heavy hand on Dorothy's shoulder. "I pray that you've not been the cause for the death of my son and my other family. It would hurt me greatly to have to kill you so soon after claiming you. If they die, so will you." Then he turned to Naria. "There is nothing I can do to help in this battle. I wish you good fortune in ending it."

"Aren't you going to tell Rajura that you're his father?"

"No. It would only complicate his life. Better that he believe I'm long dead." Kenbukyou bowed solemnly before he and Dorothy vanished.

**Ryou-**

The moment Kay had been attacked, all her warnings and that of the monk, were forgotten. Enraged, Ryou called his yoroi, and drew his swords just as everyone else did. _How dare he hurt Kay!_ Ryou's thoughts mixed easily with the thoughts of the others and he felt Xiu's anger that a child had been hurt and Seiji's concern that he should go to her and see if she was hurt. Shin was sickened at all that was happening, but more than willing to throw himself into the fray. Touma knew they couldn't let something like that loose in the world.

Everyone called their yoroi and drew their weapons. Ryou could see the black armored man smile slightly behind his mask. Anubisu was the first to attack, holding his massive sword with both hands as he charged. A single swing of his no-datchi did no good, the black armored man was far too fast and he easily dodged out of Anubisu's reach.

"Coward!" Anubisu growled through clenched teeth as he paused and faced his enemy again. "You'd attack a helpless girl, but you won't fight me? Dishonor on your name!" He raised the no-datchi and called out his sure-kill, "Koku Rou Ken Ankoku Cho Uhigiri (Black Wolf Sword Leaping Darkness)" The black lightening Ryou had seen so often before sprung from Anubisu's no-datchi and shot across the distance that separated him from the black armored man. Instead of what he expected it to do, the black lightening hit the armored man and was absorbed into him. Anubisu cursed loudly, but he stepped back slightly, realizing that his attack alone wasn't enough.

The black armored man wasted no time, though. With an easy jerk of his arm, the stranger pulled back the arm holding the impossibly large boomerang and threw it with practiced accuracy. Naaza jumped in as quickly as he could and held up two of his swords to shield Anubisu, but it did little good. Both Naaza and Anubisu were thrown back when the boomerang struck Naaza's swords and they rolled to a stop just in front of Ryou.

"This is bad," Anubisu said as he sat up slowly and kept his eyes on the black armored stranger. "Real bad." He shook his head, which had taken a hard thump against a stone when he'd been thrown back.

Touma pulled back on his bow and aimed up, into the sky. The boomerang arched through the sky, flying gracefully in a curve until it started flying back towards the person who'd thrown it. Touma was silent for a moment as he tracked the boomerangs' flight with his eyes, but lowered his bow when the boomerang landed back in the stranger's hand. "I can't get it, it's too fast," he admitted reluctantly.

The stranger charged them quickly enough that Ryou didn't even have time to raise his katanas for protection. They were all forced back, nearly thrown into the surrounding forest when the stranger swung his weapon at them. It wasn't that the boomerang had actually hit them, it was just that the speed of his swing had made such great air pressure that none of them could stand against it.

_That bastard!_ Ryou swore as he struggled to his feet. Thankfully, they were all wearing yoroi, so none of them was really hurt, but Ryou felt insulted. How dare this thing think it could beat him? Ryou had to fight, he had to kill that thing and destroy it.

"STOP!"

Ryou had just raised his katanas when he turned to see Kay struggling to her feet, using the monk's staff for support. The blow she'd taken had done damage and Ryou saw, with fury, that a large wound on Kay's side was bleeding through her clothes and her skin had gone very pale. "Kay, stay out of it!" He called. "We'll kill it... "

"NO! Haven't you been listening?" Kay's eyes narrowed at Ryou and he was hurt that she'd speak to him so harshly. "You can't fight it, that's what the Kuroi Kikoutei wants." Once again, Kay turned to the Kuroi Kikoutei and raised the staff of the monk. "I won't let you hurt my family, but I refuse to fight on your terms." Kay's grip on the staff tightened and she focused until Ryou felt a charge of energy growing. Before long, the top of the staff had started to glow bright blue. "The monk destroyed your twin once before." Kay jerked the staff, as if she would throw it, and a ball of crackling energy nearly exploded from the staff, hurdling towards the Kuroi Kikoutei.

Kuroi Kikoutei deflected the ball of energy easily with its boomerang.

"Don't be easy on him." It was Naria who spoke, walking into the battle as calmly as if she were going to visit an old friend. Her eyes were hard and Ryou heard Seiji in his mind,

SHE'S VERY POWERFUL, Seiji thought, watching Naria. I DON'T KNOW WHAT KIND OF MAGIC SHE HAS, BUT IT'S VERY SIMILAR TO THE POWER OF THAT STAFF KAY HAS. WHAT SHE IS?

Ryou replied, I HAVEN'T GOT A CLUE, BUT IF SHE CAN STOP THAT GUY, I'LL BE SURPRISED. Ryou's instincts were still telling him that he should be fighting the Kuroi Kikoutei. I'VE NEVER FELT SUCH POWER, NOT EVEN FROM ARAGO. And as Arago had been strong enough to kill Mama Sh'ten, the idea of something with more power than him was terrifying.

Naria walked up until she stood by Kay's side, but kept her icy eyes on the Kuroi Kikoutei. "He is god to my people, but not a kindly god." Then she changed to speaking to the armed warrior. "Mukara! I know you can hear me! Where are you? I can't believe that you'd willingly hurt innocent people, this girl isn't even a warrior and you've attacked her!"

The Kuroi Kikoutei didn't answer.

"Who is in control, Mukara? Are you controlling the Kuroi Kikoutei or does it control you?"

As if it were offended by the suggestion, the Kuroi Kikoutei again threw its massive boomerang. They were all prepared to dodge it, this time, but as the weapon spun through the air and curved as it headed back to its master, there were other innocents in its path. Ryou watched in helpless horror as the boomerang headed right towards where Nasty was laying on the ground with Catherine and Shark at her side. It seemed to happen in slow motion, to Ryou's eyes.

Shark looked over her shoulder and saw the approaching boomerang and her mouth fell open for just a second before she reached for her gun. There was no time, Ryou knew, and even if there were time, Ryou was sure a gun wouldn't be enough to stop the boomerang. Shark didn't even have time to draw her weapon for Catherine pushed her aside and took the full force of the blow.

Catherine was mortal, with no magic or even the weakest of yoroi to protect her, and the boomerang slice into her chest, killing her instantly. All Ryou saw was a flash of red as blood spurted before Catherine fell to the ground, dead.

Ryou and his friends were suddenly overwhelmed with Shin's thoughts which could hardly count as real thoughts. It was more emotions, that clear thought. It took Ryou a moment before he could shield his mind against Shin and decipher the mangled, horrified sensations. There was fear and fury and dreadful, cold grief and all the while he stood by Xiu, trembling violently with eyes so wide that the white showed all around the iris'.

**Shark-**

Shark looked up in time to see the approaching boomerang and a look of horror spread across her face. Out of habit, she reached for her gun, she had to protect Catherine and Miss Yagiyu. She had to do... something. Anything.

Then someone pushed her down and Shark found herself staring up at Catherine. It was a quick death, Shark thought, numbly when Catherine was nearly split in half by the boomerang. Catherine was dead before she even hit the ground and Shark had seen the light go out of Catherine's eyes. Shark stared numbly at Catherine's twisted body. "No. Oh, baby, no." Shark wanted to cry, for the first time since she was five years old and her hamster had died, she wanted to break down in tears.

There was no time. No time to mourn, even as the boomerang flew away, back to the hand on Catherine's murderer.

Miss Yagiyu was still in pain and stared at Catherine with an open mouth wide open, as if she wanted to scream but couldn't gather the needed breath. Shark went to her as quickly as she could and took Miss Yagiyu's hand, just as Catherine had been holding it.

"Cathy... " Miss Yagiyu started. "Is Cathy... is she... ?"

Shark looked away. She didn't want to think of that. "Think about your baby, Miss Yagiyu. You need happier thoughts now, so your baby will be born happy." Shark almost hadn't been able to say that lie. Her lips felt numb. Born happy? It was likely, even with all the power of the warriors who were now trying to fight the black armored person, that none of them would leave this battlefield alive. How sad that even an innocent baby wouldn't be spared.

Miss Yagiyu groaned and rolled her head back as another wave of pain swept through her. No matter what was going on around them, this baby wanted to be born, now.

**Mukara-**

Mukara dimly realized that he'd killed someone who did not wear armor or bear a weapon. He'd killed a woman, an innocent.

~No.~ The voice of the god told Mukara. ~You didn't kill her. She was in the way. Continue. We must fight them. We must show them we are the strongest.~ Mukara obediently gave into the voice and let the Kuroi Kikoutei control his body. He was nothing and it was everything. ~Yes, good, Mukara. Just relax.~

Naria's eyes were on fire and her voice was just as passionate. "Who is to be the master, Mukara? You or the armor? You are the servant of our god, but what kind of god takes the life of an innocent?" She gestured to the woman Mukara had killed. "You are a man! Has your pride make you forget? Your duty is to protect, not destroy or kill! The god will kill us all and you'd willing follow it to Hell for the sake of a good fight? Then kill me first!" Naria's voice turned even fiercer as she stepped up to Mukara. "Kill me, because I won't watch you destroy yourself! Kill me and our baby!" Her hand floated down to her stomach and Mukara, for the first time since he'd first received the armor so long ago, stopped. He stopped listening to the voice deep within him that told him to fight to kill.

~Don't listen to her!~ The Kuroi Kikoutei warned as it felt Mukara's desire to fight weaken. ~She's is merely distracting you! We are strong than she! We are stronger than everyone!~

"Baby?" Mukara lowered his weapon slightly as he let the word sink in and he felt himself being drawn back to having full control of his body.

"Yes, baby. What do you think we've been doing every night for the past several months, fool?" But Naria's voice was gentler now and she raised a hand to Mukara's face. "Shed this armor, my love. Let the god rest. The guardian of our village has one more person to guard."

And with that simple touch, the battle ended. Mukara closed his eyes. _Go back to sleep._ He commanded the god of his people. _There is no threat here for you to fight._

~No!~ The Kuroi Kikoutei tried to remain in control, as it always did, denying the will of Mukara. ~We must force them to summon the Shiro Kikoutei! We must know who is strongest!~

_But they won't. They will die before they call it._ Mukara opened his eyes and focused on Naria, then on a crying boy who knelt by the woman Mukara had killed. He looked at the girl who held a staff, ready to defend against him. There was a woman crying in pain. _It's time for us to rest. There has been enough battle today._

Mukara was the avatar of the Kuroi Kikoutei for good reason. Not only had he been proven the strongest and bravest of all the young men of the village, but he had also the strongest will of anyone in the village, besides Naria herself, and had, in the past, been able to force Kuroi Kikoutei back to sleep. This time it was more determined and fought for control. ~I will not leave! Not so meekly! For the first time in so many years I have Shiro Kikoutei in my reach, I will not let it escape!~

Naria must have seen Mukara struggling to control the Kuroi Kikoutei because she held out her hands and touched the black armor with both palms. "Hear me, o god. I am Naria, high priestess of your people. If you do not sleep now, I will destroy you as your counterpart was destroyed by the monk, Kaosu." Warmth from Naria's hands seeped though the Kuroi Kikoutei so that Mukara could feel it on his chest. "I will tear you apart and bind you forever with in the earth beneath my feet. You will never face Shiro Kikoutei."

The fury at her words raged through Mukara's mind, but it wasn't his anger. It was that of the Kuroi Kikoutei. It knew she had the same power as that of the monk who had divided the Shiro Kikoutei and it was wise enough to back down. There would be another day to fight. When these mortal bodies had long turned to dust, the armors would still exist and they would find new bearers. It retreated fully and Mukara suddenly found himself without its familiar weight. It had gone, back to the crystal caverns to sleep again.

Another cry of pain and Mukara turned to see the pregnant woman laboring to deliver her baby. Instantly, everyone turned their attention to her. Not one of the visiting warriors even looked at Mukara as they rushed to the young woman. The only one who didn't, was the boy who still cried by the side of the dead girl. His hopeless, heartbroken sobs filled the silence between the pregnant woman's pain filled gasps and cries.

**Nasty-**

Nasty was barely aware as someone touched her arm. She'd watched with horrible helplessness as the battle had raged around her and the pain in her abdomen increased. Tears nearly blinded her, but when she managed to blink them away, Nasty found Naaza next to her. He looked terrible, as if the skin on his face had been ripped away, but he didn't seem to be in any pain. "Don't be afraid," Naaza told her softly. "You can do this."

Nasty shook her head. "You don't understand!" She cried. "It's too early and I don't think I can get back to the base in time." She gasped as another painful contraction hit her. "OH, GOD, IT HURTS!" Everyone was gathered around, but Nasty couldn't bring herself to feel self-conscious, there was no time for that. "I'm scared."

It was Naaza who turned to look at everyone. "Stop staring, you fools! All of you, get out of here! 'Jura, you get some clean blankets from that Naria girl or go steal some from one of those huts. This is no time to stare!" He quickly took charge of the situation and, when everyone had gone a distance off, offered Nasty a small smile. "Bear with me. Helping a woman to give birth is one thing I never thought I'd have to do."

"It's new to me, too." Nasty tried to smile back, but another contraction caught her off guard.

Hours later, it was finally over. Nasty felt relieve wash through her when she finally felt the baby leave her body and she looked up to see Naaza smiling down at the wet, wrinkled baby in his arms. "What... what is it?" Nasty asked, raising her head from where it had been resting on Kay's lap. "Boy or a girl?"

"A boy." Naaza's smile grew until even Nasty could see his fangs. "A beautiful, red head, by the looks of it." Naaza gave the baby a couple of slaps on the backside until it let out a lusty howl of outrage. "Here," Naaza was still smiling when he moved to sit beside Nasty. "I think he wants his mother." Then Naaza passed her the baby while he retrieved a blanket Rajura had 'found' and used it to clean the baby's face. "He's beautiful," Naaza whispered, almost reverently.

"Yes." Nasty agreed. She had never felt such powerful love as she did at that moment. A tiny, helpless life in her arms and Nasty was glad she'd gotten mysteriously pregnant. No longer did it seem like the catastrophe that it had so few months ago. "He's gorgeous. He's not so small as I thought he'd be. I was afraid he'd be so tiny, like they show premature babies on the television. Hello, Toshitada." She cradled him closely to her and couldn't stop herself from staring at his perfect face.


	43. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Four years later-  
Nasty-

Nasty had refused to marry Wufei, even after Toshitada's birth. Yes, she did love him dearly, but... he was only fifteen and the idea of marrying him, though it was perfectly legal and acceptable by the standards of his people, it was not acceptable to her. She looked at him and saw a fresh-faced boy. He had so many good qualities; his courage, his honor, intelligence. He was a truly good boy who had the potential to grow into a very good man.

Nasty was willing to wait for him to grow up.

She had told him, very firmly, after accepting the engagement ring when he'd offered it a second time, that they would wait until Wufei's twentieth birthday. He didn't really understand why; his people frequently got married as young teenagers and he'd already been married once. Why bother with waiting? Nasty was adamant, though. They would wait until he was an adult.

The day after Wufei turned twenty, he was throwing up in the toilet, again.

"I can't believe it!" Wufei groaned, between heaves as he sat up again. "I thought I'd be over this by now."

Xiu handed him a towel and chuckled at Wufei's expense. "Yeah, but at least now you know it's not your fault. It's hereditary."

"Where's my suit?" Wufei asked, pushing himself to his feet, once he was sure his stomach had stopped rolling. He splashed water on his face and rinsed out his mouth. "This had better be the last time. I don't think I can survive being married a third time." The room spun for a moment, but Wufei quickly got himself under control.

"Are you sure you're done?" Xiu asked. "Mama said not to let you get dressed until you were really through."

"Yes, yes."

Xiu helped Wufei to get dressed and, as he did, Wufei noticed the changes that had taken place between them in the past few years. Wufei had grown several inches stood an inch taller than Xiu. It seemed strange to look down at his cousin whom Wufei had always seen as being so large. Wufei had even found out recently that Xiu had never started shaving. It was like that for all of the boys who'd gotten the yoroi. None of them had aged a single day in the past years. "So," Wufei said, lightly, "How does it feel to be my best man all over again?"

**Nasty-**

Nasty was suffering from sever butterflies and no matter how much she stared at her reflection, nothing seemed to help. "This is all so foolish!" Nasty moaned, her hands twitching uncontrollably at her sides. "He's twenty; I'm practically an old woman!"

"Rubbish! You're twenty-three, you're a child yourself. Now, stop worrying. You look lovely," Noin told her, yet again, as Nasty started to fiddle with the pale blue flowers that had been fixed into her hair. "Stop messing with them or you'll ruin it. I don't know why you're so nervous all of a sudden, anyway." Noin bent down to straighten the train of Nasty's gown. "You two have been planning this for ages and you were perfectly fine yesterday."

"That was yesterday, this is today!" Nasty bit her lip. "Maybe I made a mistake about the whole thing. This dress is awful and I think I should put my hair down, instead." She started to reach for her hair again, but Noin grabbed her wrists and held them down.

"Don't you dare!" Noin snapped. "You don't have time! We're going to start as soon as Duo gets here."

Nasty whirled on Noin with a look of utter panic and wailed, "He's not here yet! Why isn't he here? He promised!"

"Now, don't get all upset. He'll be here, you know he doesn't break his word." Noin went to Nasty's bedroom window and peeked outside to the garden where the wedding would take place, before she moved to leave the room. "I can't see everyone from here. I'll go see if he's arrived, yet."

"No!" Nasty clutched her friend's arm. "Don't leave me now! I'll have a panic attack! You can't leave me!"

Kay stepped up to Nasty's side and smiled. "I'll wait with you." True to Nasty's predictions, Kay had grown into a stunningly beautiful young woman. At sixteen-years-old, Kay held herself as gracefully a lady from ancient times and her perfect china doll complexion was almost inhuman. She was still so young, but little Kay had truly started to grow up and Nasty couldn't help but feel a little sad about it. There were times that she missed the little girl Heero and Duo had brought to her home so long ago.

Dressed in a pale blue bridesmaid dress, Kay looked far more elegant than Nasty felt. She hadn't cut her long black hair since her arrival on Earth and now would have reached to the floor if Kay hadn't kept it tied up in intricate braids. Also true to Nasty's predictions, was the fact that Kay had acquired herself a great many admirers, including many nobles from around the world. These wealthy and dignified men had all come to speak with Treize about one thing or another, but Kay had happened to be around and, of course, gotten their attention. Rajura had, quite naturally, nearly had fits when he happened to hear about this little fact. He had been the last one to notice that Kay was growing up.

**Noin-  
**  
Noin hurried out to where all the folding chairs had been up in the garden, awaiting the arrival of the wedding party. Many important guests had already arrived and were sitting, including several OZ soldiers that Nasty and Wufei had grown close to, Mama Fan, Doctor Sally Po, and other people. There was Ryou, Shin, Xiu, Touma, and Seiji all dressed in sharp tuxedos. They stood with Heero, Quatre, and Trowa. It was going to be a small wedding but, from Treize's drawn face, someone very important was still missing. Noin hiked her bridesmaid's gown up to her knees and ran over to him.

"Duo's still not here, is he?"

"No," Treize answered stiffly. "He said he'd be here about this time, but I was hoping he'd be early. If he doesn't get here soon I think Wufei's going to kill himself."

Indeed, when Noin looked at Wufei, the poor boy looked half-dead already. He was pale and was almost leaning on Xiu for support.

"He'll be here," another voice added in, coming from behind Noin. Rajura, dressed in his best kimono for the wedding and he'd even pulled his stark white hair up into a neat topknot on the top of his head, with just a few strands of hair falling down on either side of his face. If any man could be called beautiful, it was Rajura, who had only the black eye patch to ruin the effect. "Duo knows how important this is and he was very excited to have this as his first job." Rajura spoke confidently, though he, too, watched both the road and the sky alternately. No one had spoken to Duo for several days and they weren't certain whether or not he was planning to make a big entrance with Deathscythe.

"He'd better be here soon," Treize straightened the tie of his tuxedo unnecessarily. "Or..." Treize was cut off when something distracted him and he looked down. "Hello, Toshi'." Treize smiled down at his four-year-old nephew. The little red haired boy smiled up at Treize, but tugged at the stiff collar of his child-sized tuxedo.

"I'm bored, Uncle Treize," Little Toshitada whined. "When's this gonna be done?"

"As soon as your uncle Duo gets here," Treize told Toshitada.

"Daddy looks like he's gonna get sick again," Toshitada whispered to Treize with a look at Wufei. "I don't think he likes getting married."

"Your daddy will be fine."

Just as Treize said that, there was a great roaring noise from the front drive and Treize took off running with Noin close behind him. She only just heard, as she ran, Rajura said to little Toshitada, "Let's go and see how you mother is doing, shall we? She's pretty nervous today."

"Okay, 'Jura."

In the front drive away, amidst all the cars of the guests, Treize and Noin saw a perfectly shined motorcycle skid to a stop and a tall, lean man nearly jump off. "Am I late?" He shouted, pulled off his helmet and looked at them with worried purple eyes. He didn't look much different than he had when they'd all first met. He'd kept his hair long and in a tidy braid and though he'd matured during his years in school, there was still the spark of bright life in his eyes that could never be extinguished.

"Almost, Duo." Noin grabbed his helmet from him. "How was graduation? I'm sorry I missed it."

"No worries." Duo grinned pleasantly at her. "It was great. I was, of course, the life of the party." Duo told her with a wicked little smiled as he stripped off his leather pants and handed them to Treize. Under the pants, Duo was wearing simple black trousers. Then he took off the leather boots and pulled some nicely polished shoes from the saddlebag of his motorcycle and put them on. "I just couldn't miss this for the world." Duo shrugged off the long black duster he'd been wearing and revealed a plain black shirt with a white collar and a small silver crucifix hanging on a chain around his neck. "I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to be at this wedding."

"Well," Treize said, speaking for the first time since Duo had arrived. "We're all glad you're here, Father Duo, but I really think we should get moving. My sister's probably having a coronary by now and I think Wufei's about to throw up again."

"Give me a minute," Duo said, pulling up his braid until he had the very end in his hand and he started to pull off the elastic that held it in place. "Heero is here, isn't he?"

"Yes," Treize said, a bit impatiently as he looked back up at Nasty's bedroom window. "Why?"

"Well, I haven't seen him in almost three months. I wanted to look my best." Duo shook out his braid and let it fall around his shoulders and down his back. Then he flashed the sexiest smile he had. "There, do I look nice?"

"You look completely sinful," Treize reassured Duo, before taking his arm. "Now let's go!"

It was meant to be a simple wedding, but when Treize was involved in something, it rarely stayed simple. The mere fact of who was getting married, demanded tight security measures and guards around the property. No media was allowed onto Treize's now fully repaired estate, but that didn't stop a few of them from trying.

Trowa and Quatre were supplying the music with their surprising talent with violin and flute. With them, Shin played softly on a keyboard.

When he was sure everyone was ready, Treize looked at Nasty. "Are you ready?"

"Yes." Nasty smiled bravely at him. "I don't know why I'm so nervous, but yes. I'm ready."

"I'm glad one of us is," Treize took her arm. "Because I don't think I'm ready to lose my baby sister."

There was a hint of sadness to his gentle smile and Noin knew there was more truth in there that he would want to admit. Nasty stood on her toes and kissed his cheek, fondly. "I love you, Treize."

"Love you, too, Nasty," Treize replied. "Now, let's not keep Wufei waiting." They started out with Kay leading the way.

It was a grand procession, done in royal style. Kay was elegant and graceful, her head bowed demurely, turning everyone's heads as she made her way down to where Duo was standing. Following Kay, came Noin, who didn't feel at all as elegant as Kay, but she did her best for Nasty. Next came Lai, now six-years-old and cute as a button, as the flower girl. After her came the little four-year-old Toshitada as the ring bearer. Last, of course, was Nasty who walked down the aisle with Treize. He would be the one to give her away, and Noin thought that she'd never seen Treize look so proud. He had reason to be proud. Nasty was stunning and when she appeared, all of Wufei's nerves seemed to vanish. Color returned to his face and he smiled at her confidently.

Duo stood at the end of the aisle, with his bible in one hand and looking like a happily fallen angel. He smiled benignly as if he'd done the ceremony a thousand times before. "Hi, guys," Duo said in a soft undertone as he made a show of opening his bible and looking for the right place. "Everyone okay? You ready?"

"Yes," Nasty and Wufei replied at once, then blushed at each other at their anxious tones.

"Good." Duo beamed. "That's a great way to start. Now," he looked up at the gathered people and raised his voice so everyone could hear him. "We are gathered here today to join these two in holy wedlock under the watchful eyes of the All Mighty. Who gives this woman to this man?"

"I do," Treize said and he gave Nasty's hand to Wufei, who took it eagerly. Then Treize stepped away and sat in the front row, next to Zechs. It was a well known fact that Zechs and Treize had just had a commitment ceremony. The evidence was the gold ring each man wore.

"Let us pray." Duo bowed his head and everyone followed suit while Duo repeated a prayer he'd long since learned by heart. When he had finished, Duo signaled everyone to raise their heads. "I'm supposed to go by the book here," Duo said. "But I've never been very good at following rules. I'd like to say that marriage is one of the most sacred choices a person can make in this life, though I believe that the love shared between people is far more important than any ritual speech. Wufei, do you give your heart to Nasutei?"

"I do." Wufei's voice was firm, with no hint of the nervous wreck he'd been only a short while ago.

"Nasutei," Duo turned to her. "Do you give Wufei your heart?"

"I do."

"Then there's nothing else I can do or say that would make this moment any more important or special. The rings?"

There was a long silence until Rajura poked Toshitada in the back and reminded him about his job. Duo took the rings off the little velvet pillow and gave a slight nod, allowing Toshitada to go back to Rajura. "With these rings, we bind you in holy matrimony. From this day on, you will belong to no one but to each other." He handed Wufei and Nasty the rings. "Now, repeat after me. I, Chang Wufei, swear to all I hold sacred to love, honor, and cherish you, Yagiyu Nasutei."

Wufei repeated and slid the ring onto Nasty's finger.

"Now you, Nasutei. I, Yagiyu Nasutei, swear to all I hold sacred to love, honor, and cherish you, Chang Wufei."

Again, Nasty repeated the words and put the ring on Wufei's finger.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife." Duo closed his bible and nodded at Wufei. "You may kiss your bride."

Wufei did so with happily until all the guests rose out of their seats and cheered the long awaited new couple.

The party was celebrated in the ballroom of Treize's mansion. Noin found out quickly that neither Anubisu nor Rajura could dance. They could do old fashioned dancing, but neither of them had danced to modern music and she found it charming when she took them in her arms that they would blush like school boys.

While Noin was dancing with Anubisu in her arms, a disturbing realization hit her. Anubisu was still nineteen and she was twenty-four. Rajura's words were true, after all. She felt like the years were passing by so quickly. Noin tightened her hand around Anubisu's as fear gripped her heart. _I can't lose them._ She glanced around and saw Rajura sitting at the edge of the ballroom with little Toshitada on his lap. _I... I don't think I could stand the pain of losing them._

Anubisu pulled Noin in tightly and pressed her close to his chest. It wasn't something she was expecting, as Anubisu and Rajura were both squeamish about public affection. Still, she stayed pressed against him as Anubisu whispered to her. "Would you like to be like me?"

"What?"

"It's something I've been thinking about for a long time." Anubisu looked at her with tense eyes. "You know so much about us, Noin. You are apart of my family, no one can deny that, now. I... " He raised a hand to touch her face. "I don't want to ever watch you die. Will you let me change you?"

"Change? How?" Noin knew Anubisu was a vampire, she had known for quite a long time. Therefore, she knew what he was offering, but she just wanted to hear him say it.

Anubisu leaned down and kissed Noin's neck. "I can't promise you eternity. I can't promise that you'll never die. But... if you want to... if you understand everything about me and what you'll be, I'd like to make you a vampire. I've spoken with Rajura and he agrees that it's your choice."

Noin said nothing for a while, but she held onto Anubisu. "I... I'm not sure. I have to think about it for a while." Of course she wanted to be with them forever and this would mean that she wouldn't have to lose Seiji, either. However, it would mean... drinking blood. Plus there were a lot of other down sides to the whole vampire thing. Noin looked up at Anubisu, hoping that she hadn't hurt him too badly, and was happy to see him smiling.

"Don't worry," he told her. "I have a very long time to wait. I can be very patient." They danced after that, with no further mention of Anubisu's offer. That would be for another night.

**Duo-**

Duo confronted Naaza after everyone had gone inside to dance in the ballroom. It was one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do. Since Duo had announced that he was planning to go to college and work to be a minister, Naaza had been furious. Knowing his dislike for the Christian religion, Duo hadn't been surprised, but... he had to do what he had to do.

Naaza looked Duo up and down for a long time. "It's been a few years."

"Since I left for that college," Duo said, never having felt so awkward with one of his own family before. "You could have visited."

"No," Naaza shook his head. "Too many people. You've gotten taller."

"Yeah, this whole growing up thing is weird. I never thought I'd be as tall as you."

"It was unavoidable, I suppose. So... are you happy?" Naaza gestured to the leather bound book in Duo's hand. "Does all that really make you happy?"

Duo couldn't help the smile. "Yes. It really does. I feel like I'm doing something really meaningful with my life. I'm going to do some missionary work and, I thought, maybe I'd start my own orphanage. Treize said he'd finance one for me and I could stay close to family."

"What does Heero think of this?"

"He thinks it's a great idea. He's going to keep his job, being a bodyguard for Treize, but I'll be right in the city, so we'll still live together. He's great with kids, too, so he won't mind them being around."

"You've thought it all through, haven't you?" Naaza closed his eyes and was very still. "Of all the destinies I had hoped you would follow, I never once wished this on you. I had wished for you to become a great warrior, a painter, a farmer, anything... but this. I can't help it, Duo. I despise Christians for what they did to me and if I could, I would wish death on the God of Christians. But that wouldn't do any good." When Naaza opened his eyes, he smiled at Duo. "So long as you're happy, I won't object. I only ever wanted your happiness."

Duo threw himself at Naaza and hugged his big brother tightly. "Thanks, Naaza. You'll never know how much that means to me."

**Shark-**

It was raining outside, when Shark left the reception. She had stayed through the wedding, out of respect for Miss Nasutei and for Treize, but she really thought she should leave.

"You won't stay for the cake?" A voice came to Shark out of the darkness and she snapped to a salute before the man even walked out of the shadows. "At ease. Have you said goodbye to Nasty, yet, or shall I do that for you?"

Shark waited until Zechs had come to stand in front of her. "If you don't mind, sir, I didn't want to interrupt them. I really should head back to the base. I've got new recruits to train and there's no sense in waiting."

"They could wait till the morning," Zechs told her with a sympathetic voice. "You still mourn for her, don't you?"

Shark didn't bother to deny it. "Foolish of me, I suppose. It's been four years and I only knew her for a very short time."

"Love is never sensible. If it were, it wouldn't be love." Zechs put a hand on her shoulder.

Shark let a hand float absently to the empty locket she wore around her neck. She'd never had a picture of Catherine taken; they hadn't had time. Shark had been foolish, then, too. She hadn't thought that she'd lose Catherine so soon and that they'd have plenty of time for that mushy stuff. Taking pictures of each other and moon lit walks along a beach. It had all seemed so trivial, once. Now, Shark would have given her soul to have just one more chance. The locket didn't have Catherine's picture. It didn't even have a lock of hair. Instead, engraved on the inside of the locket was the word, FOREVER. She would forever remember Catherine, forever treasure Catherine's laughter in her memory and all the other tiny things that made the brown haired girl seem like an untouchable goddess in Shark's mind. _I'll love you forever._

Shark walked away from the Zechs, and she was glad that he didn't try to stop her. _It's better this way, I suppose. I'll do fine on my own. I always said falling in love was rubbish. I don't need that distraction in my life. Really._ Shark was glad it was raining as she wiped her face with one hand. She'd hate it if anyone thought she was crying. _Miss you so much…_

**Quatre-**

Quatre couldn't complain. He was in the arms of the love of his life, Trowa, and everything had worked out so perfectly. It would have been better if Catherine hadn't died, Trowa had been so badly hurt by her passing, but in the end, all things considered, life had worked out pretty well.

Of course, there was that little problem with Zero.

(Am I a problem, Quatre?)

_No,_ Quatre said, after thinking for a bit. _I suppose not. I wasn't expecting you, but you are useful, if nothing else. I can hack into any computer system just by touching it, thanks to you and that's pretty handy._

(I told you I would protect you, Quatre.)

Maybe it was only Quatre's imagination, but Zero sounded slightly smug about that. Ah, well. Quatre still hadn't quite given up on his plans for world domination, but he was starting to settle into life nicely with Trowa and it would be a shame to do anything to disrupt that life. He didn't want to make Trowa unhappy and he was pretty sure that if he told Trowa he was still thinking about taking over the world, it might upset him.

_So,_ Quatre decided. _It'll wait. Treize is doing as good a job as I knew he would. It'll be fun to see what new changes will come with my little cousin, Toshitada. I wonder what it'll be like when he's running things._

**Rajura-  
**  
At the front of Treize's home, out of sight of the celebration in the backyard, Rajura stood solemnly with his arms folded in front of him as he watched Naaza walk peacefully away. The rain fell lightly, but neither brother reacted to it. He couldn't help but feel that maybe this was his fault. His family had never been separated before, yet now Naaza was walking away from them without a backwards glance. He should have done something different, something to keep them all together where he could know everyone was safe.

ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO DO THIS? YOU DON'T HAVE TO LEAVE, Rajura thought after Naaza.

Naaza answered, IT'S... AWKWARD TO SEE MY SH'TEN AS A CHILD. I STILL LOVE HIM, BUT... HE'S SO YOUNG. I'LL COME BACK IN A FEW YEARS, WHEN HE'S OLDER.

WHAT IF HE FINDS SOMEONE ELSE TO LOVE WHILE YOU'RE GONE?

THEN HE AND I WEREN'T MEANT TO BE. I'LL ACCEPT WHAT HE WANTS. Naaza's mind rubbed against Rajura's. DON'T BE SO UPSET. IT'LL ONLY BE FOR A FEW YEARS. I'LL COME BACK WHEN HE GROWS UP. I THINK I'D LIKE TO GO BACK TO INDIA. I WANT TO SEE IF ANYTHING'S CHANGED SINCE I'VE BEEN GONE.

I JUST HATE TO SEE YOU GOING ALONE.

WHO SAYS I'M GOING ALONE? Naaza stopped at that moment and he looked to his left. From out of the bushes, Rajura saw Shin step out, holding a bag. The two spoke for a moment before they started walking again, together. YESTERDAY HE FOUND OUT WHAT I WAS GOING TO DO. HE SAID HE'S ALWAYS WANTED TO TRAVEL AND ASKED IF HE COULD COME WITH ME. WE'LL BE ALL RIGHT.

Rajura sighed. BE SAFE. COME HOME SOON.

**Seiji-**

Seiji let Ryou lead in the dance. He felt too awkward and clumsy at dancing, but Ryou seemed to have a natural rhythm for it. It was during one of the dances, that Seiji decided to show Ryou his surprise. After months of cajoling from Luc, Seiji had finally agreed to her wishes a short while ago. Really, he did it for himself, too.

Very causally, Seiji stopped dancing, forcing Ryou to look at him. "Sei...?"

Seiji put both hands up to his still long hand and, as calmly as he could, Seiji combed his fingers through his hair, pushing it all back and revealing his entire face.

Ryou gasped.

It had been two months since Seiji had gone with Luc and Zechs to the plastic surgeon who had repaired Seiji's face. It had been long and painful as well as frightening and only because Luc had been holding his hand, had Seiji allowed the white-coated doctor to put him to sleep. That same doctor had recommended an optometrist who had given Seiji a glass eye that perfectly matched his own lavender eye.

Now, Seiji looked the way he'd been meant to look and Ryou put his hands on either side of Seiji's face, pulling him in close. "You're beautiful, Seiji." Ryou said in a choked voice. "I guess this is what you did when you went on that vacation with your sister, huh?"

Seiji nodded and let his arms fall. "I hoped you'd like it." Seiji had let Ryou see his damaged face a couple of years ago. When Ryou had shown that he honestly didn't care what Seiji looked like, Seiji had begun to think maybe he shouldn't have the operation done. After all, Ryou might not like him to be changed.

"I like whatever you like." Ryou put his arms around Seiji's neck. "Are you happy with your face?"

Seiji just smiled and leaned his forehead against Ryou. "I'm happy that I won't have to remember Dr. J every time I look in a mirror."

**Heero-**

Heero had decided to stay as Treize's bodyguard, the job had come so naturally to him. Even as he stood on the outskirts of the party and kept looking around for anyone who might disturb the happiness of the guests, Heero was pleased with his life. Duo had found his dream and was looking forward to the future with bright eyes and there had been no sign of Duo's other personalities in a few years, though Heero was pretty sure they were both just under the surface, waiting for something to set Duo off.

Working for Treize had its down sides, though. Like days off. Heero had never quite figured out what he should do with his days off and Treize insisted that he take two every week. Normally, Heero ended up sitting in his room, in Treize's mansion, staring out a window at passing cars. He hated time off. That was, until Rajura had introduced him to the wonder of knitting. As of that night, Heero had made sixteen sweaters, seven scarfs, forty pair of mittens, and three afghans. Knitting met all of Heero's requirements. It was practical, time consuming, and, as a bonus, it was entertaining.

Besides knitting, Duo was the one thing that had held Heero's attention. Duo was probably the bravest person Heero knew and the reason was simple. Duo pinned all of his hopes and beliefs on a god that he didn't know for sure existed. Duo spent all of the money he earned working for Treize to put himself through college and was basing his whole future on simple faith. That, to Heero, was the bravest thing imaginable.

**Xiu-**

Xiu and Touma spent the night being mostly depressed. Shin had left them to go off traveling with Naaza. Of course he'd given them plenty of warning and hadn't just vanished, but it still hurt them that he'd left.

"Shin always had itchy feet, ya know?" Xiu told Touma after Shin had gone. "He never could stand being in one place to long, just like Cathy."

"Maybe we should have gone with him," Touma suggested, though it sounded hollow, even to him. Touma and Xiu both knew that Touma wasn't like Shin. Touma needed the security of a stable home while Shin was perfectly happy sleeping on the ground and moving on the next day. Touma never would have been happy going with Shin. Xiu, too, liked being close to his family. He couldn't have left his mama, sister, cousin, or any of his other family. To just up and leave was unthinkable. No... they would stay together and wait for Shin to return.

"He said he'd be back in just a few years and Rajura said we have plenty of time to wait." Xiu held Touma closer to him. He, like Touma, was still a bit uncomfortable with the changes he saw coming over his family. Wufei had grown up quite a bit, his build had filled out considerably and he had said that he was going to enroll in college soon, to go for a degree in literature. It was something that Wufei had always wanted to do, but he'd never had the opportunity. Xiu had realized then that he'd likely never go to college, he'd always look so young. Touma had watched Quatre grow up, turning from a petite blonde boy into a man who broke hearts just by smiling. Quatre had developed muscles no one had ever guessed that he had and was able to easily keep up in any kind of fight.

It was hard, watching time move on as an outsider. At least they weren't alone. Xiu knew that if he'd been the only one to stop aging like this, he would have gone insane and killed himself.

**Treize-**

As the party was in full swing, Trieze held his little red haired nephew and wondered, yet again, who the father was. It had been proven that Wufei was not the biological father. A DNA test had put that idea to rest. Even so, it was a mystery and Treize didn't like it haunting his family. What if a father suddenly stepped forward and tried to ruin Nasty and Wufei's life together? Toshitada already thought of Wufei as his father. After all, it was Wufei who had disciplined the boy, read him bedtime stories, taken him out sledding, and all those other millions of things that make a real father. It would be unfair for anyone to disrupt that. Wufei seemed a good and honorable man. If Mama Fan's character were anything to judge by, Wufei would turn into exactly the kind of person Treize had always been looking for in a brother-in-law and father for his nephew. There was no reason to search for the child's biological father.

When Noin had come to claim Rajura for a dance, Treize had willingly taken Toshitada from Rajura and then retreated to a quiet corner, so he could better watch everyone. Treize had already taken a dance with Nasty and, since Zechs wasn't here at the moment, Treize was content to watch. Little Toshitada was so worn out from such a long day that he'd fallen asleep on Treize's lap.

"Well, you have a good daddy, my boy," Treize whispered to his nephew. "A very good daddy. Such a family you have - lots of uncles and even a few aunts. You'll never lack for a baby sitter, I guess." It had to be the craziest family Treize had ever seen. "I do hope I haven't done anything you'll regret, Toshi'." Treize brushed brilliant red hair away from Toshitada's face.

The day after Toshitada had been born, Treize had made the boy his heir. It was only logical, really. Treize knew he'd have no heirs and he was only more than happy to give all that he had to his nephew. However, Treize knew he was heaping a lot of responsibility on Toshitada's shoulders. It was going to be hard for the boy to grow up in a world where he had no equal. He was literally the richest person in the world, since he would inherit not only Nasty's fortune, but Treize's, too. He would inherit the honorable Chang name and Rajura was already talking of his plans to train the child to fight as a true Ma-Sho. Toshitada would inherit everything, but it would be his place to choose the destiny of humanity because he would also inherit Treize's position as the leader of Earth.

Treize sighed and hugged Toshitada to his chest. "I hope you'll be ready. I'll do everything I can for you, but in the end, it'll all be in your hands."

**End **


End file.
